Maximum Ride: Angel
by BRRIII
Summary: Fang left Max and the Flock with only a note to make up for it.  What happens when in an attempt to leave a second note five years later, Max finds him in a bar and becomes suspicious?  And furthermore, what is he hiding about the small girl that appears?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. So, a couple of weeks ago it occurred to me that I have not updated my Fanfiction in ages, so I got to work on some new stuff! This is another remake of Angel (Like, my 14th remake of it) But regardless, it's much better than my other story, and some of you seemed to like that one, so, hopefully I'll get some great reviews? (Hint, hint) Anyways, get to reading! (:**

"What in the world do you think you're doing here?" I asked rather harshly of the man in front of me. His dark eyes cut through my concrete shield like butter, but I wasn't going to let him know that. The grin that erupted from his lips was almost too much to take, but I pulled through, keeping the steady glare I'd been giving him. I'm guessing he expected for that to break me because soon after he let out a slight chuckle, which was an escalation of seduction levels. Regardless, I kept my countenance.

"It's a bar, Max," he said, his voice smooth and strong. It killed me to hear it after so long, but it would've killed me more if I were to just forgive him right off the bat. Because that's just Max being Max, stubborn and never forgetful. My glare turned more sinister and intimidating at his reply.

Yes, it's me, Maximum Ride, the courageous and powerful, sitting in a bar. Why, you ask? Well, we all need something to get our minds off our problems every once in a while, even me. It's been kind of low key on the whole "kill all the bird kid freaks" front, but I knew at any time we'd be on the run again. Oh, and as you may have already guessed, I've aged a bit, seeing as there is, in fact, an age limit to bars. Being 20, I got in simply by the appearance of being older.

"You know exactly what I mean," I said, "What are you doing in Colorado, in the exact town that my mother's house happens to be in?" I could see in his eyes that he saw the old me he used to love, always getting straight to the point and cutting the chit chat. But that's the key thing, that he _used _to love. Obviously, he no longer did. He licked his lips, a bit nervous to answer, I supposed. He looked down at the table and regained eye contact after a moment.

"I was going to leave a note," he said, "Just to let you know I was okay." He looked at me as if awaiting my approval of the excuse, and was greeted with a glare I didn't want to give. The next thing I said absolutely broke my heart.

"You think I care if you're okay?" I asked. He didn't so much as flinch a muscle, but I knew him. Looking in his eyes, I could tell that hurt him almost as much as it hurt me. And believe me, it hurt me a lot. He directed his eyes to the bartender in front of him and slid a bill across the table, I wasn't sure of what rank.

"All the beer I can get for that," he said. The woman's astonished glare nearly sent him into a fiery rage, Fang being easiest to annoy when hurt emotionally. I could tell, in a way, he wanted to punch me in the face right now. In a way, of course. He actually looked more as if he wanted to punch a hole through a brick wall right about now, but it was hard to tell between expressions with Fang. That's one of the things I loved about him.

"You don't need that much alcohol," I granted. A quick glare from him told me he didn't really care. Fang was the only person who could actually shut me up with only a look. Heck, he was the only person that could shut me up period. At first, I almost considered retracting what I'd said because honestly, I'd been worried about him for the past five years.

I'd been worried about whether or not he was safe. I was worried if he had found a place where he could lie down and rest for a little while, or was he completely and totally exhausted from being on the run the whole time. I was worried that maybe he'd been taken in by Itex, to be used as a weapon or spy against the Flock later on down the road. Believe it or not, I was worried about whether he'd met someone else, got married, had kids...

I looked on his finger: no ring. So, either he was single or a jerk who takes his ring off to pick up women at the bar. I didn't think that was in Fang style, but who knew how much he'd changed over the years. And even if he wasn't married, he could still have children, and child support to pay. Rejoining the Flock would be a huge burden in such a case.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, why am I considering letting him back in the Flock? Is this not the jerk that left all of us heartbroken with only a note to remember him by just five years ago? Why am I considering his forgiveness so quick? Boy, I guess I've changed over these past few years, but I certainly wasn't going to let him back in that easy.

"I knew you didn't care," Fang said, breaking me from my pondering. I realized that the woman had already brought a glass of the bitter alcoholic beverage Fang had requested in front of him and walked off. I'm guessing she was just going to refill it until the money he'd paid her couldn't go on to the next. "It was mostly going to be for the rest of the Flock." He took a big gulp of his drink, and set it down, already half empty.

Had he gotten over me? Over what we'd had not two seconds before he'd left? The fact that I'd saved his _life,_ the fact that he'd almost died right in front of me, the fact that I blew off lover-boy Dillon, perfect supermodel material, for him? Was it really that easy to forget. Or, perhaps he just loved me so much, that he didn't want to leave me a message because he'd knew I would come after him...

Well, I _wouldn't _have. I don't know what makes him think that I would. And of course, right now, I'm simply making assumptions, because I'll never know what goes on in that head of his. But that was one of the reasons that he was perfect for me. Neither of us could understand the other, yet somehow, with a simple lock of the eyes, we could nod, and have a plan. If only he wouldn't have left, we'd be stronger than ever right now. But that's the thing. He _did _leave, and we _weren't _stronger than ever. Maybe he should think twice before assuming that I can't handle whatever Itex throws at me.

"Well," I said, lifting myself from the seat to get ready to leave, "Feel free to leave that note because I'll just rip it up and set fire to it." Such a lie. I would give it to them without hesitation, because I knew that they'd been missing him. Dillon just wasn't a Fang replacement, and frankly, he needed to leave anyways. All he can focus on is his, "Perfect other half," while all that I can focus on is the mission and Fang's alleged return. And this was my chance, and I was_ blowing it_.

"Max," he said, "Stay." And _that_, my friends is what did it. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, the ounce of weight my patience couldn't take, and that's when I did it.

I stayed.

Sitting back down in my chair, I kept a good eye on Fang, downing the other half of his beverage and hitting the glass with his fingernail to request more. He obviously wasn't intoxicated. I'd seen intoxicated, prime example: Iggy. And I've discovered it takes a lot more alcohol to get us genetically enhanced inebriated. "Fine," I said, "But you have some serious explaining to do." The woman came over and gave Fang another glass. He nodded after taking a sip.

"I know," he said.

**Okay, so the bar plot, a bit of a cliche, I agree, but they're adults now, so why not? Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW. I love your feedback, good or bad (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, got some good feedback on the last chapter, thanks to the Sayler for being my first reviewer. And to all that added my story, I promise not to disappoint! I thought this was a well-written chapter, a little bit of fax in there for all of you guys. Anyways, get to reading (:**

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked him. He didn't answer, simply kept walking on. Why weren't we flying exactly? Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea. He and I both knew it was the fastest way to travel, but he decided to walk. And to a destination I didn't know of. Even better.

Perhaps a better question, why exactly was I trusting him? How'd I even know this was the real Fang? I remembered the clone Fang from that Itex in Europe, the one that walked just a little more relaxed than Fang, and was a bit more quiet. This certainly wasn't that clone, I would've noticed. One look into his eyes I would've noticed, because as soon as I'd spotted Fang, we clicked again. Like nothing had ever happened.

At this point, I was amazingly confused on what to do as a game plan. I mean, there's the option of taking him back in the flock, or leaving him out to the cruel reality of the world. And so, in true leaderly style, I mentally checked the pros and cons...

As far as him leaving, it looked something like this:

PROS

I appear to be a lot stronger emotionally than I actually am.

Fang sees that he can't just control me.

Um...

And the pros for him staying went as follows:

A valuable asset and skilled fighter for the Flock.

A long-lost friend returned, building a stronger unity.

More information about what he'd found as appose to us, just kind of sitting around doing nothing for the past five years.

Flock being overall happier having their second in command back.

I will have regained the one person I consulted for help.

And, sadly enough, that's not even including the fantasies I had in my mind of Fang and I making up and getting back together. Marrying. Having little fledglings. Etc. And so, logically, it would've made a lot more sense to let him back in. But, illogically, which is where I tend to venture half the time, I didn't want to appear like a pushover. Then Fang would take advantage of it, and maybe take over the Flock.

Of course, even in that land, there's certain limits to how far I go before realizing I'm being stupid. The Flock was Fang's life, he would never do anything that risky after having the narrow possibility of a return. He knew better than that.

I shook my head, spacing back in after a long vacation in la la land. I noticed Fang walking up the steps of a little home. It was a nice little place, cozy, pretty good amount of space for only one person, and it seemed as if it wasn't going to collapse in the next five minutes. That was better than half the places I've stayed the night in before. I was approximately a foot behind Fang, making sure I didn't look too clingy, while also keeping a good eye on him. I didn't want any sleights of hand from him.

After pulling a key out of his pocket and unlocking the door, he swung it open with a subtle creak. Not like in the horror movie houses right before a monster pops out and eats you whole, but just a little creak that a little bit of oil could fix. He took a step inside and threw the keys on a small table near the middle of the room with impeccable precision. Well, they didn't slide off the about foot-wide table, which is pretty good.

"Make yourself at home," he said, "I'll be right back." He disappeared into shadows down a thin hallway and was gone for a moment. Sitting on a rather comfy couch and looking around, I realized he had a pretty nice setup here. He had a TV, not like a flatscreen LED TV, but nor was it one with two antennas sticking out of the top of it. The TV rested on a three foot high kind of shelf, which seemed to double as a kitchen table, judging the empty plates on it.

Looking beyond what was right in front of me, the walls were a bit bland, just a white hue of some sort. There were a few spots where pictures lay, I'm not sure for what purpose exactly. Something tells me they were from a family before him because all they showed was a small boy, probably about seven. I guess he was just too lazy to take them down.

I could spy a small archway beyond this room which led to what I'm guessing was a kitchen. I could see an average stove, regular refrigerator, and a microwave. It was a bit small, but regardless, a microwave is a microwave. There was a nice little wood table in the middle of the room which was apparently the _actual _kitchen table. I'm guessing it was seldom used, due to the convenient placement of the previously mentioned shelf: right in front of the TV.

All in all, Fang had a pretty good house. Amazing, considering where he'd started out at. Which, in case you've forgotten, was _zip_. I saw him return to the room, seemingly a bit nervous. Well, the average person simply would've saw Fang, but I knew his face like no other, and the slight change of the way he held his jaw showed nervousness. He joined me on the couch, although as far away as the armrest on the other side would allow. Out of respect or concern I wasn't sure.

"Well," he said, looking around. He caught eye of the plates on the shelf which held the TV, "I probably should've cleaned up..."

"Okay Fang," I said. He wasn't surprised to see I'd cut into his attempt at a friendly conversation. He swallowed and hung his head for a minute, then looked at me in the eyes, making me feel like I could trust everything he was about to say.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, being succinct as usual.

"Where do I start?" I said. I hesitantly picked a topic and then slowly made it into the form of a question, "What is the real reason you left?" He didn't break eye contact as he blinked.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Almost before he could make the words out, I was already countering his response.

"You know exactly what I mean!" I screamed. He closed his eyes, noticing the raise in volume, and hushed at me.

"Okay," he said, opening his eyes and looking at me again, "Do you want to know the real reason I left?" The change in his facial expression showed me an argument was about to arise over this one.

"Yes," I said strongly.

"I left," he started, "Because I wasn't sure which was more important: the Flock, or you." I was shocked by this display of emotion, but didn't show it on my face. My concrete visage was still content when I was about to speak again. He cut me off, "So, I decided it was best to leave both." Okay, _that _is what did it.

"_What?_" I screamed, "_How _does that make sense? Because you didn't know which one you wanted more you decided you couldn't have either? That just doesn't make any sense at all, Fang. Stop feeding me this crap!" He held up a hand, attempting to remain calm, but seemingly losing the battle.

"The reason I had to leave," he said, "Is because I knew eventually, I'd have to choose." I shook my head.

"Choose what?" He looked at me, then at the couch, then back to me again.

"Between you and the Flock." I was pretty astonished by this fresh piece of roasted Hell he just threw at me.

"And what makes you think that?" I asked him, "I've always been with the Flock, through thick and thin, and they've always been there for me!" That's when he finally lost it.

"Is it easy for you to see things like nothing is going wrong?" he asked with a little volume to his voice. Before I could retort, he continued, "They'd been rebelling against you ever since you and I got together! They felt like you changed after we started this thing between us! They chose a seven year old that _you raised _over you for Pete's sake!" Well, when he put it like _that..._

"Excuse me?" I asked him, honestly unable to retort.

"They broke off into their own Flock led by Angel, who couldn't handle them on her own because the two oldest and most mature were out on a honeymoon!" Suddenly, I actually saw where this was going. Just as Fang was getting to his point, he calmed his voice and cleared his throat, "Angel wasn't the right leader, and they didn't think you were either. Eventually, they weren't going to want you any more, and then, where do I go?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. He was quick to answer.

"Do I stay with you," he said, "Or give the rest of the ones I love the leadership that they need?" And _that,_ my friends, is advanced logic at its finest! Man, he'd thought this whole deal through. I shook my head and looked at him.

"You did it," I said, "Because you loved us?" I asked him. His eyes shot straight down to the couch he was sitting on. He moved his tongue in his mouth, around his lips, and on the inside of his cheek, like he did when he was about to say something important.

"Yes." He looked back over to me, right in the eyes, and I could see that he meant every single letter, vowel, consonant, syllable, breath of that statement, "I left because I love you guys." And you want to know the funny thing about this? What I got out of that statement was _love_. As in _present tense_. What do you guys suppose that means?

He cracked a half grin while looking at the carpet and then regained eye contact, "Next question?" I shook my head, lodging some of the information in my brain for later reference. Then, I formed my next statement.

"What'd you do after you left?" He looked at me, granted a little smile, and then spoke.

"Got captured by Itex," he said, "We didn't kill off all the big branches, it seems. They took me in, ran some tests on me, et cetera, et cetera. I could've gotten out, but they made me an offer I couldn't refuse." And, in true Fang style, he just stopped right there. I rolled my eyes and actually grinned.

"Kill the suspense and just tell me what they offered." He smiled and looked around.

"This place," he said, "And a job." My mouth dropped. "Now, before you think I'm working for them, I'm not. I'm actually working at a McDonald's down the street." And suddenly, the volatile anger that erupted dissipated into hilarious comedic pleasure. I put my hand over my mouth to stop from laughing right in his face.

"You work," I struggled through the laugh, "At a fast food restaurant?" He gave me the sort of glare that said, "So?"

"What's wrong with that, there's plenty of people who work at fast food restaurants," he said. I was still deep into laughter as I replied.

"I can just see you," I said, laughing loudly between the subject and predicate, "saying, 'Would you like fries with that?'" I erupted into a new series of laughter at my impression of his voice. If I wasn't on the couch, I would quite literally be ROFL. Fang simply smiled as if he was holding a laugh behind his lips, and then shook his head.

"Oh Max," he said, "I've missed you so much."

**So, love it? Hate it? Want to throw it into a woodchipper as you listen to its voluble screams grow intermittently softer? Tell me your feedback by REVIEWING :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again guys! So, I started this other story with the plot where the Flock reads the Angel Experiment, so I encourage you to check that out. But first and foremost, what you all came to see, chapter 3 (: **

Well, if you're like I imagine you are, you're wondering, "So Max, what's the game plan now?" As a matter of fact, I'm asking myself that same question. I mean, some of my anger toward Fang has calmed a bit, but there's still some in there. But it's the anger that doesn't make any sense, like I'd always felt towards him now and again. It was the fact that he was always right, and he never actually had a stupid idea, if thought out properly. I wasn't exactly sure why I was angry at him. I'm thinking it might be just me trying to find something wrong with the situation, and thus not having to apologize for being a jerk. That's just me.

"Well," he said, rubbing his lip with his hands, "How's the Flock doing?" His face showed regret, like he'd knew that he'd missed a lot. Well, he missed Angel hit puberty and Iggy becoming a bit of a stumbling drunkard, which were two things I'm sure he didn't want to see. He skipped out on the talk for Nudge, Gazzy and Angel, which was also an advantage for him. But still, he looked like he rued leaving. I knew it was hard to see the kids he'd spent his life with grow up without him.

"They're good," I said, "Iggy needs to lay off the alcohol a bit, but other than that, they're good." He smiled and shook his head. I could tell he was thinking back to when he and Iggy were best friends, practically inseparable. They were partners in all the crimes that Gazzy wasn't involved in, and sometimes even in those. I honestly had fun watching them get along all great.

"I could say the same for myself," he said. There was something about him that had changed just a little bit over the years. He had just a little bit of hair on his upper lip. Like, it wasn't a woolly caterpillar, but it was noticeable by a long shot. It suit him well. And he'd gotten much bigger, height wise and muscularly. I had no doubt that he'd been working out. His strength was probably unimaginable now.

"Angel still trying to take over the Flock?" he asked, noticing I hadn't replied to his previous statement. I shook my head. She truly hadn't been. I'm not sure what it was about Fang leaving, but she just fell in line as soon as he did. I'm guessing she knew I was kind of going through a lot, so she decided to lay off. She was still a bit of a mind control freak though, always butting into my thoughts.

"No," I finally replied, "Now she's just dealing with regular teenage stuff. Looks and what not." He chortled slightly.

"I guess we kind of just skipped right over that whole phase, huh?" I nodded. We had no choice, of course. We had a Flock to take care of, and yes I say _we_ because without Fang it would not have been the same by any means. He's had a huge impact on their lives, all of them. I hope that they'll take him back with gratitude.

And yes, I said take him back. I've been thinking and, he's a vital part of the original Flock, without all of the ad-ons. He was there when we were just six kids on the run, with no way of knowing if we'd be alive and free the next day. Now that we have some sort of safety on our side, I can't just leave him like that. It'd just be terrible. And, let's face it, without him, things would be a lot different with the Flock right now. Heck, he's the whole reason I still have a little bit of sanity.

"So," he stated, a bit uneasy, it seemed, "Pretty calm nowadays, huh?" I smiled.

"I guess," I forced myself to say, "Much better in comparison to previous years." Yeah, it was still a bit chaotic, but it was _normal _chaotic. Like, arguments turned into fistfights on occasion anarchy, not like, "Oh, time to go stop someone from imploding the world again while avoiding capture from the exact people we're running towards!" Because let's face it, that's pretty much a summary of the first three quarters of my life. Fang laughed reminiscently.

"You think they'll ever want to see my face again?" he asked uneasily. It was a bit strange to lay that kind of a question on someone other than himself. He was usually so independent. I was guessing that he debated these facts in all that free time he had not talking. Now, he was more talkative, and a bit less stoic as well.

"Of course," I hoped aloud. I noticed Fang gradually scoot closer to me, and when I looked into his eyes, I suddenly willed myself closer to him.

"Are you happy to see my face?" he asked, finally getting within the distance needed to intertwine our fingers. I nodded, still getting closer to him. We didn't stop closing the space until there was no space. Fang released my hand and put his hand to the other side of me, right above my hip, the place that always makes people jump when you poke them there. I did, if only a little. He pulled me in tight against him, glad to see my gesture. And this is another example of how we can know exactly what the other is thinking with no words. Because we just made up.

And just then, Fang turned towards the aforementioned thin hallway of which he'd gone as soon as he came in, and there was absolute horror on his face. I heard a door shut, and got into a reasonable pouncing stance on the couch. By the way Fang was reacting to the intruder, he was probably pretty bulky, with weapons, muscles, a bit of a crazy side...

Pink pajamas, a teddy bear, and a quite familiar pair of eyes.

The small girl rubbed a little bit of sleep out of her eyes while looking at Fang, seemingly completely comfortable with him. I don't think she'd actually spotted me yet, but I'm sure she would any time now. Right now she was simply staring at Fang, for what reason I wasn't really sure. The girl finally caught eye of me.

"Daddy," the girl addressed Fang as, "Who is this?"

**So, a real cliffhanger there, huh? What in the world will happen next? Only one way to know... add this story (: Ha, sorry I just wanted to see what it was like to do that kind of thing to get people's attention. Anyways REVIEW PLEASE :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, so, a lot of you guys are extremely confused with the whole little girl/little boy dispute. It was originally a little boy, but, I decided to change it to a girl. I just thought it would be interesting if Fang had a girl that he'd been taking care of rather than a boy. Not sure why. Anyways, it is now a girl, so, just wanted to get that straight (:**

"Fang," I said, already knowing where this was leading. My heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wingbeat. _This isn't happening, it can't be. He couldn't have. _But when I looked in the girl's eyes, I saw what was so familiar about them. Those were Fang's exact eyes. And when I looked at her jawline, it was virtually impossible to differentiate the angle in which it was crafted. _He did._

"I can explain," he said. He was pulling me in with the hand that was still around my waist. _Don't you cry, Maximum. Don't you do it. _I fought off tears enough to look Fang right in the eyes and glare at him. My mind still had enough synapses combined to construct the exact words that I was looking for to describe my feelings.

"You son of a bitch," I stated softly. I pushed myself away from him; he didn't move to follow me. Smart move. He simply looked at me, seeing the trap he'd set slowly unclasp from around me. "You're just going to act like everything is okay and you didn't mention you had a freaking _kid?_" I was furious, and I knew that Fang could tell.

"Max, please, just listen. I was going to tell you about Banter in just a minute..."

"Bull!" I pulled out of my lungs. I was going to finish the statement, but decided with the innocent kid in the room, I probably shouldn't. After all, I wasn't mad at the kid, I was mad at the kid's idiot man-whore of a father. Fang sighed and looked at his daughter, a spitting image of the man in front of me. It hurt me to look at the girl

"Banter," he whispered, crouching down to the kid's level, "I'm going to need you to go back to your room for a minute, okay?" He spoke to the child lovingly, a very paternal accent in his voice. He carried the girl down the hall and I heard a door open and shut. Fang came back in and looked up at me with a nervous look. "Okay, let's talk."

"About what?" I asked in innocence. "Your choice of color for your walls, the couch having a loose spring?" I put a finger to my chin to look like I was thinking, "Oh, or maybe you were talking about the _kid you forgot to mention before making a move on me!_" He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, I probably should've led the conversation with that." I widened my eyes.

"You think?" I put my head in my hands, "So, who's her mother? Some girl you picked up at the bar? Maybe a nice coworker from McDonald's?" He looked a bit mad at this point, so I continued, determined to get him absolutely infuriated, "Or was she a prostitute you called up..."

Before I knew it, I was pressed against the wall, my head hitting against it and my arms pinned to it. Before I could even say ow, Fang was already spitting venom into my face. "_No! _I am _not _going to end up like _my _parents. I am not someone who just has sex for the fun of it, haphazard of the consequences that may ensue. I will _not _end up like they did!" He was breathing so hard, and I could feel his breath against me. I could also hear the pain that he felt.

I remembered back when Angel told Fang that his mother was a teen. And they didn't know the father. He'd confided in me that he had low hopes for what his parents might've been. And he had every right to have those standards. I assured him there's a possibility that maybe she was just a teen who made a mistake, but she could've very well been in the same scenario I'd offered Fang. Which is probably what set off his verbal rampage. He attempted to calm his breathing and continued on a bit more calmly.

"Her mother is the most beautiful, amazing, wonderful woman in the world." That sent me over the edge this time. I pushed him off of me, tripping him on the couch and seized him as he fell on his back. I put my hands on his arms, pinning them against the couch. I knew he could probably easily throw me off, but it can't hurt trying.

"_You _are trying to get back with _me _and you're just going to go off and confess your love for her _mother_? The one who isn't even here to take care of her right now? How amazing could she be if she's not here right now? I mean, it's not like she's never met the child, so just how wonderful can she be?" He looked up at me.

"It's my fault her mother isn't here to take care of her," he said calmly, "I was hoping to fix that." Wordlessly, and with immense confusion with his last statement, I pushed myself off of him and headed for the door. I pulled it open with no attempts from Fang to stop me, and walked out.

**CONFUSION, right? Anyways, you know the drill, REVIEW :D **


	5. Chapter 5

**Alrighty guys, new chapter after my little Christmas break (: I was at my grandma's all day yesterday, so I couldn't update, anyways, this chapter is where things get REALLY interesting... so go ahead and read!**

"Well, there she goes," Fang said to himself. He looked out the window and saw Max open her wings and take off. She flew through the night with such grace and ease that it almost seemed she was an aerial ballerina. After seeing them after so long, her wings were probably the most amazing things he'd seen in a while. Besides her in general.

He sighed and plopped down on his couch. That was his chance. After five years, he'd finally found her, finally got a chance to win her back, and he was so close. But now it was all ruined. "Daddy?" Fang looked over to his daughter.

"Yeah, buddy," he said, patting a place beside him to present the girl a seat. She took it without hesitation.

"Did I ruin your chance at getting mommy back?" Fang looked at her, young and trusting. Fang saw himself a lot in the girl, but also a lot of her mother. That's what broke his heart the most.

"No," Fang lied, "You didn't. She'll be back soon." _She will if I have anything to do with it_, he thought. He'd already forgot about what had just happened with Max and started concocting a plan to get his daughter's mother in the same room as her. Well, he'd already had one, but he was deciding whether or not it'd be best to carry out the plan now. He didn't have too much of a choice. Fang sighed and picked up his daughter, the only person he knew related to him by blood. Maybe that'd change one day. If they were lucky.

"Daddy," the girl requested once more. Fang simply looked at the girl as a reply, "Who's in the driveway?" Fang looked back, hoping, strangely enough, that it was Max, coming back so they could at least talk about this whole situation. That was too much to hope for, he knew, but whatever. Instead, he found a quite familiar man, dressed in quite familiar attire. Fang swiveled his head back around to his daughter.

"Banter," he said. After checking her father's tone, Fang could tell that the girl knew that this was an urgent situation, "I need you to go to your room, and if you hear screaming..." Fang reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo. It was a bird's eye view of a vital building, of which Banter needed to go. His daughter needed no more conversing before grabbing the paper and speeding to her room. They'd planned this long ago, but this was the first time it wasn't a drill. Fang heard three knocks at the door.

"Fang," said the man, "How's it been going?" Fang rolled his eyes, always hating to hear that voice try to be friendly. He opened the door and presented the man a pathway into his house without so much as an audible breath. Jeb immediately presented himself a seat on the couch.

Fang hated Jeb, if not for everything he'd done to the Flock, it's for what Fang anticipated that he was doing now. Jeb looked at him with a smile, which Fang didn't return. Maybe if Jeb was the father he was supposed to be, and kept his promises, Fang would've at least talked to him. But he wasn't either, so Fang didn't waste breath on him. "Fang," he said, "Long time, no see."

"You're not taking my daughter," Fang said. Jeb looked up at Fang, a twitch in his jaw that told Fang his plan was going down the drain.

"What makes you think that..."

"Cut the crap and leave," Fang interrupted, stepping in the way of the hallway where his daughter abode at this time. Jeb gave him a knowing glance.

"Now, Fang," he said, "We're just going to run a few tests on her, see how she's progressing. She's the latest genetic anomaly and the first to be born with no tampering while in the womb. We'll just check her progress, and then give her right back..." Fang simply glared at the man.

"Are you going to leave with, or without a head?" Fang asked. He looked at the man, much older since the last time he'd seen him. Jeb was approaching senior-ship, his hair a light gray and his voice weak and scratchy. The thing that was most familiar about hims was what he hated, that stupid lab coat. Fang was surprised that the people at the School hadn't given him some kind of special chemical to slow down his age progression. Lord knows they can do pretty much everything else with their fancy schmancy science equipment. Suddenly, Fang saw Jeb reaching for his waistband, which could mean only one thing. A gun. Fang tackled the man to the ground, crushing his hand against the ground. He gave Jeb a nice hit right on the side of the face, and before Fang knew it, he was seized himself.

By the men in blue.

"I told you!" Jeb said, "I told you that he was an abusive father! Just look what he did to me!" Fang yelled out, not out of anger or frustration, but as a sign. Hopefully Banter remembered screaming means, "Get out now." Fang was then pushed up against a wall.

"You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you..." the officer read Fang his Miranda rights, all the while cuffing his hands behind his back. Could Fang have escaped the cop's grip and ran for his life out the door? Of course. But he didn't. "Go check the rooms!" he heard from one of the officers. He heard doors opening, shutting. _Please, please, please... _Fang thought

"The child's not here," Fang heard. He sighed in relief, just soft enough so the cops didn't here. After all was said and done, Fang was put in the back of a police car and drove down to jail. His one call...

Max.

**So, what'd you think? REVIEW PLEASE :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright guys, so I know a lot of you are really confused about who Banter's mother is, and some of you just think that this is a poorly described event in the story, but there is, in fact, a reason that I haven't told you who the mother is. By the end of the story, you will most definitely know who Banter's mom is. Anyways, pretty interesting chapter, the Flock is officially in the story, so all of you who've been waiting for them, here they are!**

"Max!" I heard from the other side of the house. I sighed and walked into the room I heard the voice from. It was Nudge's, and as soon as I entered the room, she started talking, "Well, it's getting cold outside, and yesterday I looked at a calendar, and I figured out that Christmas Eve is _in a month_. And we didn't even acknowledge it until now. Well, we didn't, _I _did. Anyways, so, I know your mom's out on a CSM convention and what not, but," she paused and took a breath, "Do you think we could at least put up a tree?" I scrunched my brow at her.

"A tree?" I asked. She rolled her eyes, still a bit juvenile for missing out on this tradition for all of these years.

"Yes," she said, "A Christmas tree! With lights and ornaments and all that good stuff. Ooh, Gazzy and Iggy could go out back and find a small one to cut down and bring in here. And we could all, like, make some kind of special ornament that tells a little bit about us, and we could do it again next year! It could be our first family tradition!" I put a hand up to stop Nudge from her rambling with a laugh. If there's one thing that could cheer me up after losing the guy I'd been waiting on for five years, it's a 17 year-old's rambling about an unnecessary issue. I smiled at her and nodded.

"Okay," I said, "Go tell Iggy and Gazzy to get a tree and we'll get to work on those ornaments." She squealed as if she was twelve again and ran through the house screaming for Iggy and Gazzy. Heck, maybe something good will come out of this.

"Max!" I heard. Gosh, could I go five minutes without someone having to call me somewhere else? I walked into the kitchen to find Angel sitting on the counter with a phone, using her shoulder to cover up the receiver. She looked a little worried, and a lot confused. She mouthed, "It's Fang," animatedly and I immediately grabbed the phone, rolling my eyes and turning away from her. I shooed her away so I could be alone while I rant. It was a little while before he started talking, and I realized it was because I hadn't talked yet.

"What now?" I asked him.

"Shut the hell up!" I heard in the background, not from Fang's voice, from a voice much meaner than Fang's. And that's quite the accomplishment. It was then that he finally spoke.

"Hello," he said camly, "Max?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, who else?" I heard him clear his throat, keeping his composure, seemingly in the worst of situations. "Why are you calling me, come to pour your heart out about your baby mama in my ear?" I rolled my eyes right before they would soon widen at his reply.

"No," he said, "I'm in jail." Suddenly, although I was still extremely peeved at him, I turned back to the fourteen year old me, worried about my second in command. I didn't want to, it was just a natural reaction to the situation.

"What?" I asked, "Why?"

"Your asshole father," he said, "Called child services on me for no damn reason. He wants to take Banter." I gasped, not because of what he'd said, but because of the charge, and the fact that I may or may not believe that it's true. Okay, I believe it's true.

"Fang, it's the police, they don't arrest you unless they have reasonable cause." He seemed like he was confused for a minute, then he noticed that he'd forgot to mention something. A _big _something actually.

"Oh, no. _God _no," he started, "That's not why they arrested me. Now he's charging me with assault and battery." I raised an eyebrow, "I kind of kicked his ass." I put the phone on my shoulder as I laughed. I'm sorry, but thinking about having my father's ass kicked by my former best friend? Oh, if only it would've happened five years ago. I put the phone back to my ear and replied.

"Good," I said, warming up to him a bit. Then I realized something, "Wait, so where's your kid?"

"Max!" I heard from another room. _God, not now. I'm kind of dealing with a crisis right now I really don't need any more people interrupting me. _"_Max!_" Okay, this one sounded urgent. I put my hand on the receiver.

"_Kind of an important phone call_," I said. I heard footsteps coming down the hallway as I put the phone back to my ear.

"What do you mean where's Banter?" he said in a panic. Well, not normal panic, Fang panic, which is almost unnoticeable. But I noticed it. Just as I was about to reply, Gazzy came in sight, which is who was calling my name earlier. I put my phone to my shoulder, ready to argue with him while arguing with Fang. It wouldn't be an easy task because neither of them were very patient. Then I caught eye of something and nearly died of a heart attack.

"Nevermind," I told Fang. Beside Gazzy was, you guessed it, Banter. The eyes gave it away. The little girl looked up at me, extremely nervous, but even more troubled. "Um, Fang, can I call you back?" I almost heard him roll his eyes from the other side of the phone.

"_I'm in jail, Max_," he said, "You can't call back. If you're going to hang up, just please come visit me. I've got court in a week, I want to see my daughter before then, okay?" I sighed, seeing Fang had become quite the single father over the years. I'm glad that Banter had him as a dad, because a lot of other men probably couldn't do the job. But Fang had been practicing for the first fourteen years of his life. I crouched down to look the little girl in the eyes just as Gazzy started talking.

"Max," he said, "Who's the little girl and how'd she get here?" I disregarded him for the moment. I looked the little girl in the eyes and gave her a little smile, the phone still on my ear.

"Hi," I said, a little nervous, but I put a comforting tone into it. She gave a weak smile on that I'd seen before somewhere. But it wasn't on Fang. I'm not sure where I'd seen it, but it was like the back of my hand.

"Is that my daddy on the phone?" she asked me. Gazzy looked like he was about to crouch down and tell her no, but I nodded before he could. She gave me a real smile and then put both of her hands out towards me. I was a little confused for a second, then I reached around her shoulders for a hug. Once I got close to her, she laughed a little and pushed me away. "No," she said, then bent her fingers in a, "Give it," gesture. It was only then that I realized she wanted me to give her the phone. I handed it to her carefully, making sure she didn't drop it, and she took it happily.

"Hi daddy," she said. As soon as she heard his voice safe and sound, she smiled wide. She walked into the living room to be in privacy, and then Gazzy started his interrogation.

"_What is going on?_" he asked. I put a hand on my forehead, stressed out from today alone.

"Long story," I said, "I'm going to explain it to all of you at one time. Tell Iggy to hold off on the tree, we'll get it later. Gather the Flock in the living room so we can talk..." Just then, I was cut off by a scream from Angel. "Looks like Angel's already found her." I sighed and walked into the living room and grabbed the girl, who had hung up the phone by now and was near tears at Angel's scream. Angel had quite the pair of lungs on her now, and she felt free to use them at any time she wanted to. I slapped my hand over Angel's mouth and sighed heavily, only for about the 4000th time today.

"Angel, sit down," I said, pulling her onto the couch, "And shut up." I removed my hand from her mouth to find she'd stopped screaming._ Thank God_. I grabbed Banter softly by the arm and presented her a seat on my lap in the only lone chair in the house. It was the only sitting place in the living room besides the couch. What? She needed somewhere to sit and I didn't want her to feel awkward by the Flock. Besides, I had to admit, the kid was pretty cute. In a matter of seconds, the Flock piled onto the couch across from me, all of them granting strange glances at the girl in my lap before taking their seat. She attempted to cower into me, and I let her.

"Max," Iggy said, "When were you preggo?"

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	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, I haven't updated in a while, and this is a really short, meaningless chapter. So, I'll be adding the next chapter, which is long and rather interesting, I guess, really soon, if not today. So, keep updated (:**

"Never have," I replied to Iggy, "Probably never will. Now shut up and listen." He was surprised to find that I was even less lenient with his crap today. And believe me, he never really got good treatment from me when he talked back. He settled back and looped his arm around Ella's shoulders, whispering something in her ear which I didn't hear, nor did I care to at this point. I sighed, _again_, and started my explanation.

"Okay, I know that you're all wondering where in the world this little girl came from, and who she is, and why I'm not kicking her into next week." Out of my peripheral I saw her look up at me in shock at that last possibility, "So, let me just tell you how my day has gone so far. So, I ended up running into Fang in," I paused. I didn't like to let the Flock know that I went to bars, it just wasn't really something I felt a person in charge should do. But I did on occasion, and this occasion was quite interesting. "A coffee shop."

"We talked a little, and ended up going back to his house for us to talk things out more in private. We argued, as you guys probably anticipated, but once the truth came out of him, we weren't nearly as angry as we were before." I was summing this up the best I could as fast as I could, because I didn't particularly like the memory. "Then I was considering letting him back in the Flock, but then this little girl showed up, and I figured that if he had a daughter, it would be a bit of a hassle." That was only a little bit of a lie. I actually didn't let him back in because he did the deed with a woman other than me. Not that we've ever done that, it's just I figured he'd stay clean until he got me back, _if _he got me back. Eh, let's just get along with the story.

"So, eventually I left and apparently soon after Fang got arrested for beating up Jeb," _God_, I loved saying that, "And so Banter ran off and now she's here with us." I took a few breaths, seeing as I hadn't during that whole summary of my day. Gazzy shook his head and then looked at the girl.

"So, this," he said, "Is Fang's daughter?" I sighed at his questioning.

"_Yes_," I said.

"And what'd you say her name was?" asked Ella.

"Banter," I said.

"That's a weird name," said the Gasman. Yes, the Gasman said that Banter was a weird name. It's kind of ironic. I'm the only one with a normal name in the Flock, so none of them really have room to speak. And my actual name isn't normal, it's just the abbreviation. Anyways, after further questioning about the incident, they found that I knew just about as much as they did at this point.

"Okay guys, get some sleep," I said, "Because tomorrow, we actually have something that has to be done, for a change." Nudge gave me a confused glance.

"What's that?"

"We're visiting Fang in jail," I said without faltering over his name. It was actually kind of hard, considering the mass confusion over what it was I was going to do with him. He's just a freak, one minute he's all over me, the next he's aspiring to be with Banter's mom, and for some reason, there is no interval in between the two. I don't know, it's too much to think about right now. Right now I need to just get... some... sleep...

**REVIEW! :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright guys, after yesterday's kind of lame chapter, this one is pretty long. And you find out a little bit about Banter in this one, so... bonus! Anyways, get to reading! (:**

"Aw," Nudge and Ella drew out early the next morning. I did wake up, but I didn't open my eyes, simply groaned and tried to turn over. Then I found there was an obstruction on my lap, and found that I fell asleep on the couch last night. And not only that, but apparently Banter had crawled in my lap and cuddled into me like a pillow. Which would explain Nudge and Ella.

"Shut up," I said, finally opening my eyes and smiling at them. Banter was still sound asleep, admittedly extremely cute curled up in her sleeping position. Although I hate the fact that Fang had to bring her into this world, I must say, it's nice to have a little one like that again. Angel's getting too old to be my baby any more. Banter would make a perfect fit, but I didn't want to put her through the crap that we had to go through on a regular basis.

Anyways, I stretched out and oh so carefully set Banter beside me on the couch. She readjusted and curled up again, then ceased her motions and settled for a deeper sleep. I got up and yawned, rubbing some sleep out of my eyes, then went into the kitchen. I opened the fridge, finding it relatively bare. I rubbed my neck and then made an executive decision; I decided we had to go somewhere for breakfast. I sighed and looked to Ella.

"Go wake everyone up," I said, "We're going to IHOP."

And after those last four words came out of my mouth, there was no need for them to go get everyone up. Because they were up right then. In a matter of seconds, I saw a fully dressed Iggy, up and alert. That, my readers, pretty much _never _happens. And soon after, the rest followed him, including a _showered _Gazzy. Gazzy hadn't showered since the first time we got back to my mom's before this occasion. A celebration needed to be in order.

"I'm guessing you heard our breakfast venue?" I asked Gazzy. He rubbed some sleep out of his eyes. Not even a scolding shower could get that boy awake, but pancakes were enough to startle him into a place where he forced himself to attempt awakening. He nodded, yawning with a wide mouth, and the yawn was curtailed by speech.

"That and the fact I get to see Fang today," he said. I smiled momentarily. The cessation of the gesture was caused by the realization that he wouldn't shower for me, but he would for Fang. Of course, it was kind of different, seeing as he hadn't seen Fang in over five years. I suppose that would be grounds for a good scrubbing. Then again, so is the dirt tan that he sashayed around with on a regular basis, but I'd rather not complain too much. He's certainly been worse.

After my mother's incessant insistent nature telling us not to fly to the restaurant, she eventually drove us to IHOP. To my much disappointment, I might add. Being pent up in a car while still having a huge decision to make about Fang's position in my life? Not exactly my preferable position by any means. Flying always made me feel more independent; on top of the world, like whatever I did, everything would work out with.

Then of course, that's something that most people call false hope, but sometimes it ended up working out.

"So what are you going to do when you get there?" I heard from beside me. It took me a moment to realize the question was directed towards me, seeing as they'd been discussing seeing Fang after so long the whole conversation. I'd been sitting uneasily at the thought of seeing Fang so soon after having been hypnotized into believing that _anything _could go right in my life, much less a relationship. I looked at Nudge, the one who'd asked the question. At the sight of eye contact, she wiggled her eyebrows, giving a feel that she thought I wasn't mad at him. I'd almost forgotten I didn't tell them _why _ I left Fang's house.

"Not sure," I said, "We can't bail him out; we don't have the money. Then again we can't really let him rot in a cell for the next week." Nudge gave me a glare.

"You know what I mean," she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Fang and I have to," I chose my wording carefully, "Talk things out before I consider letting him back in the Flock." Talk things out meaning he had to regain my trust after having a child without thinking about the effect it'd have on me. Then again, he didn't expect to see me for a good twenty years, which would've given him an apt amount of time to plan out the conversation. Maybe then he would've mentioned the thing about him having a kid _first_.

The Flock continued their chatter about Fang's potential return while it was still decision time for me. I sighed and put my head in my hands, stressed out. It'd been quite a while since I had to make a big decision like this one. As you probably already know, it's been pretty mellow for the past five years in terms of life changing situations. And this is something that I would consider life changing.

I caught sight of Banter, sitting extremely stiff in her chair. We pulled a taller chair up to the table so that she could have the same sight as everyone else. We figured a high chair would be kind of degrading. She was obviously nervous being around so many people she didn't know, without a single person she did know. The waitress had brought a little paper that they give to kids before they eat with some crayons. Needless to say, she hadn't yet touched either.

"Hey Banter," I said softly, so not to draw any attention from the Flock. She seemed much more comfortable around me than she did around the others. She gave me a weak smile and then directed her attention back to the paper, scanning it quickly. Once she looked back up to me, I asked her, "You interested in that paper?" She smiled, then looked down at it.

"Yeah, I guess," she said, "It just seems a little too easy." I scrunched my brow. They've given this to kids older than her, yet she found it easy? I took out one of the crayons and handed it to her, then pointed to the maze.

"Could you show me how to do that?" I asked her. She looked at it for what seemed like a millisecond, then made a circuitous blue route from the start to the finish. It probably took her about ten seconds to complete it, which is almost as fast as I'd figured it out in my mind. My eyes widened a bit.

"Done," she said happily, but very low as to not let anyone else here. I looked at it closer, then realized that she took a different route than me. I thought that mazes only had one solution, but this one, apparently, had two. And to add to that, her route was shorter than the one I'd come up with. I shook my head. I moved on to a different section of the paper. I pointed to the crossword puzzle.

"Could you do that one for me?" I asked her. She looked at the words, then back to me nervously; almost ashamed. She swallowed and spoke.

"I don't know some of those words," she said. I smiled at her and gave her a little pat on the back.

"That's okay," I said, "But do you think that you could just look for those letters in that order in these letters up here?" She looked back to the paper, then nodded, leaning in to get a better look at the puzzle. I saw her eyes spot the first word on the list, skate past all of the jumbled letters in the puzzled, then draw a line through identical letters in a diagonal fashion. The word? Cow. I don't know if you know this, but it's _much _harder to find small words than big words on a crossword puzzle. Basically, most people solve a crossword by looking for one of the letters of the word, then seeing if they can find the rest of the word. Now, if you think about it; if you have 50 letters, would it be easier to pick one of six you're looking for or one of 3 of them? Obviously, it's harder to find 3. I watched as she completed the rest of the puzzle. It only took her about a minute to find twenty words. I'd say that's pretty good.

"I did it," she said excitedly. I smiled and roughed up some of her hair. Okay, this kid was pretty smart.

"Okay," I pointed to a 6 by 4 series of dots in a rectangular shape on the paper. It went with the box game; the one where you draw lines to connect two dots and try to make boxes and whoever has most wins. "How many dots are in here?" She looked at it, thought for maybe three seconds, then told me.

"24," she said. I looked at the paper, counted the dots, just to be absolutely sure I was right, then looked at her. As a five year old, I didn't think she could get it that fast. Of course, I had to ask her how it is she'd got that. And what she told me was _not _length times width.

"Well," she said, "I looked at it, and I didn't want to count them all; so I broke it into different parts." She made a line on the paper, cutting a triangular dot formation away from the rest of the group. "See, this is a triangle, and it's not shaped funny, so that means that I can take how many are on bottom, and then add one less than that, then one less than that until I get to the top." I raised an eyebrow. Okay, she may be smart, but she isn't good at explaining things. She sighed impatiently and turned the paper over on its white side.

"Okay, so the triangle had four dots on the side, right?" she said. I almost laughed at the thought that she was actually explaining something to me. And she's five. Just how dumb am I?

"Yes," I said, feeling like a student to a teacher at this point. I don't have that feeling a lot, people. Well, actually I do, but usually I'm very uncooperative due to the fact I usually don't like the teacher. This teacher I didn't really have a problem with. She drew four dots on the paper.

"So, if you put four dots right here, then to make a triangle that doesn't look all goofy, then you have to put one less above it," she said, then put three on top of the bottom row, "And then one less than that one, above that." She finished it off with two, then drew the tip. "And keep going until there's only one on top, which makes it pointy, like all triangles are." I grinned.

"Okay, now how did that help you figure out how many dots," I turned the paper over, "Were over here?" She looked at me as if I should've known.

"There were four on bottom. If I add the number below four to four, it makes seven, and if I add the number below that to seven, then I get nine. And then if I add the number under that to nine, I get ten." She wrote out the problem on the paper as she spoke. "Now, if you look," she drew another line, starting with one of the vertexes of her triangle, then scraped downwards, then made a 90 degree angle that connected with another of the vertexes. So basically, now there was a square with a free space going diagonally through it. "There's another triangle just like it on the other side of the line, which means you can just add the same number to that number. So 10 plus 10 equals 20." She wrote that down on the paper as well.

"Alright," I said, understanding the gist of her method. It was unconventional, but it apparently worked.

"Now, I could have counted these ones, but I had fun and cut them into two rectangles. That makes two in this one, and the other one is just like it, so it's just two plus two," she wrote that down, "And add all of that together and you get 24." She smiled innocently up at me while I looked at the paper, dissected into four different parts now, with arithmetic scrawled all over it. I understood what she said, but I would've never thought about going about it like that.

"And you did all of that in your head really fast?" I asked her. She looked at her paper and thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess so." I shook my head an chuckled slightly.

"You're too smart for me," I said.

**Ha, I know that some of that was very confusing, but Banter's supposed to think _really _outside of the box. And seeing as I had to think about that whole triangles in the dots thing all by myself just for you guys, could you repay me with a review? :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, it's been awhile since I've updated, but I'm back now! And I'll be uploading two chapters today (mostly because this one's really short). So, there's something to look forward to! (:**

Once the Flock flooded out of IHOP, half the supply of IHOP's food accompanying their stomachs, we were back and focused on the mission. We had to go visit Fang in jail. And for some reason, even though I was going to a place filled with lawbreakers, ones who disregarded authority, people who could have a pretty good competition with us in rowdiness, and Fang was the thing I was scared most of.

I was just so confused about what to do with him. I mean, when I see him, my heart skips a beat and breaks at the same time. I hate to get all gushy on you, but he hurt me. I waited five years for him, with the potential of more, and I hadn't even so much as kissed a guy. But he just went off and acted like his past would never catch up with him. And that's when something hit me.

His past. That's what we were to him before I caught him at that bar. We were a memory that may or may not fade, companions he may or may not remember, and me? I was a girl that he may or may not regret leaving. And if I didn't do something, that's exactly what will be in the history books, people. Fang's biography might not even include us. Okay, okay, the decision's been made.

He's coming with us.

"Um, Max?" It was Gazzy, who I just realized had been calling me for the past five minutes, just about. I shook my head and looked at him, raising an eyebrow as a response. "We're still waiting for the cue to go in." I looked out the car window and found a dark and gloomy place, just as I'd expected a prison to be. It didn't compare to Itex headquarters in Germany, but it was pretty eerie, I'll admit. I opened my door, an implied gesture suggesting that everyone else should follow.

"Alright, we're getting Fang back now, whether we bail him out, or we break him out." Gazzy chuckled childishly.

"Bail or break," he said, "That could be, like, our catch phrase." I raised an eyebrow, then accepted the code name for the operation.

"Alright," I said, "If things hit the fan, we find the nearest window to us individually and up and away, got it?" Everyone nodded, obviously getting the adrenaline that was so scarcely used back into their veins. "Tell you what, forget bail, I'll distract the guard, Nudge, work your magic and pick the lock. Use your inspection ability and then the magnetization skill." She nodded. "Everyone else cover her. If anyone comes near her, just distract them by any means necessary.

"_Any _means?" Iggy interrupted. I glared at him, doing no good, but it was a reflex.

"Preferably a method of distraction that doesn't draw more people to you. As in, large explosions off limits." He frowned, but soon nodded. Good Lord, that boy has explosives on him just about everywhere he goes. I'm just glad we don't have to use airplanes, or else he'd be in serious trouble.

"What about me?" Banter asked. I smiled and crouched down to her level.

"You're going to be helping me with distracting the guard," I replied. The smile that erupted from her face meant her cooperation was implied.

**Alright, this chapter wasn't very interesting, but the next one is a huge part of this story, so flip on over to it right now! (:**


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright, so this chapter's kind of short too, but it's a vital part of the story. So, go ahead and read it! (:**

I looked around my prison cell. The dark, gloomy place was quite the fit for I, myself. It was quite easy for me to use my skill to blend in here, I'd discovered resting on the far wall and looking in the mirror. I thought about trying it on the guard, which would cause them to open the cell in shock, in which case I could escape easily, but I figured the cops would be all over me after that. I didn't need that.

I sighed. Of course, all I could really think about were two things: Banter and Max. This was the first time Banter had been away from me for more than an hour or two; I wonder how she's doing with the Flock. She did a great job executing the plan, even though we hadn't practiced in quite awhile. She recognized the house from the picture I'd given her just before she left, and didn't hesitate to enter it. I was glad.

Then there's Max. I knew that she was still mad at me. And I understood why. I mean, I really should've mentioned Banter first. But I was scared; scared that she'd leave right off the bat. I had to regain her trust first, then break that news to her. As soon as Banter had entered the room, I knew that Max wouldn't believe what was _actually _the truth. Soon enough, she'd know anyways.

"Well," I heard from a few feet in front of me. I looked up from my bed, a guard clanking the gate's keys on the bars of my cell. I never reacted well to teasing, as everyone knew. But this time, evidently, it wasn't teasing, for the man put the key in the lock and opened the gate. Hesitant to leave and be tricked, I didn't move. "Come on," the guard said, "Someone paid your bail." I raised my brow, finally rising from his bed and walking out of the cell. I wasn't bombarded by brutes, so I concluded that the man wasn't trying to trick me.

"You're kind of quiet aren't you?" the guard asked me. Fittingly enough, I shrugged. Once I was just by the door that I entered this place through yesterday, I saw a blond woman, much smaller than I, but I'm quite large compared to regular humans. I guessed she was probably 25. When she caught eye of me, she gave a bright smile and nodded, a wordless greeting. I raised an eyebrow, but returned the gesture, minus the smile.

"Hope you enjoyed your stay," the guard replied sarcastically. I wasn't ready to retort, but the woman who bailed me out sure was.

"Hey, Sergeant Stolid," she said, "How about you shut up before I rip off your lower legs and use them as boots to stomp you with." I was, admittedly, surprised by that statement. The guard was too, awkwardly looking down to his crossword puzzle. I cracked a small grin. I kind of liked this girl. She smiled and grabbed my arm, which put me on alert. I let her lead me to a car, but with immense caution.

"Get in, Blake," she said, "We have a lot to catch up on." I looked around and then focused back on the woman.

"Blake?" I stated succinctly. She rolled her eyes and motioned for me to get in. I did so, keeping my suspicion level on red alert. Once we were in the car, she looked over to me, and wrapped her arms around me with a cobra's grip. I simply sat there, then awkwardly tried to hug her arm, seeing as she'd pinned my arms to my side.

"It's been so long," she said. I was getting tired of the confusion, and so I unwrapped her arms from around me and looked her dead in the eye. As she put her keys in the ignition, I grabbed her wrist, not too harsh, but in a no nonsense kind of way.

"Who are you, and why did you bail me out?" She looked at me for a minute, then smiled. She pointed to the glove box, conveniently placed right in front of the passenger seat, and nodded attention to it.

"Open it," she said. I kept an eye on her, but watched the glove box out of my peripheral vision. I grabbed the handle and it made a clicking sound as I opened it. I finally turned to it, and found a few things. A lot of papers, which were probably her registration for the car and all of the mandatory stuff. Then I found a small photo.

"This?" I asked her. She nodded, and I further inspected the photo. It was a photo of a baby boy. He was pale white, and he was kind of big to be a newborn. However the red liquid that covered him told me that he was probably born very recently. "How does this apply to me?" I asked her. She smiled wide, seemingly about to explode with excitement. I think I actually saw a tear in her eye.

"That's you."

**Well, shocker, right? PLEASE REVIEW :D**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Okay guys, I know it's been a freaking eon since I've updated, but I've been going through writer's block on steroids. Checked my email today and saw some positive reviews that got me back into the groove again! To all devoted readers, I love you guys! **_

"What do you mean he wasn't in there?" I asked the Flock. They all looked at each other, just as confused as I was at the moment. My mother was in the front driving the van back to the homestead. Nudge was the first to answer.

"We checked the cell that you told us was his," she said, "And it was empty." I put my head in my hands.

"I'm not sure it was his. It said Nicholas Ride, maybe it was a coincidence," I said. I saw Angel shake her head.

"No," she said, "I couldn't feel his thoughts, he wasn't in there." I sighed and slapped a hard hand against me head. It was going perfect, the guard was distracted, the Flock was getting ready to bust him out, and then he's just _not in there_?

"That's the only jail anywhere near Fang's house," I said, "That has to be the one they took him to."

"Maybe someone bailed him out?" Iggy asked. I shook my head. Who would bail him out? Just then a thought occurred in my head. Maybe it was the baby momma that he's so obsessed with while he's supposed to be getting me back? I wouldn't doubt it, he's only been talking about her like she's the deity that'd save us all from some kind of apocalypse. _I_'m the closest thing to that he'll ever see.

_**Ridiculously short chapter, but I'm updating two today, and the next one is rather long. So, enjoy! And review!**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**So, the 10th chapter with Fang no doubt caused a lot of confusion, so, good news! This clears up a lot of it! **_

"What do you mean, this is me?" I asked. My heart rate was escalating slightly as the woman looked at me with a humorous smile. Was she from Itex? Was she a spy who would torture me unless I give her information about the Flock? Of course, it would do no good, but I'd rather not have torture, regardless. She smiled at me and put her hands over her mouth, almost as if she was going to cry. Then, she started the car.

"So, what do you go by now," she said, obviously trying to get off the subject to avoid crying. "I know that after being on your own without mom for all of these years, you probably came up with something to call yourself." I raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but took the chance of telling her. Not sure why.

"Fang," I said, "They call me Fang." She nodded.

"Fang. I like it." She smiled as it rolled off her tongue. Right now, I decided I'm going to just pretend like everything's alright. Like every fiber of my being isn't telling me to jump out of this moving vehicle and roll to safety. She's obviously not going to give me any information about what exactly is going on right now, so I'll just play along right now, and then I'll corner her into telling me.

"And you?" I asked her. She smiled and looked over to me before returning her eyes back to the road.

"Samantha," she said, "Samantha Lott." I nodded.

"Well that introduction was agonizingly slow." She chuckled a little and looked over.

"Yeah, it was like we broke the ice with a plastic spoon," she said, startling me into a grin. There was something about her that was just... I don't know. I just wasn't expecting her to be so friendly. Well, I could rule out that she was from Itex. They would've slit my throat the second I got in the car. But this girl was kind of hospitable. I didn't get that a lot. "You hungry? I hear the food in prison sucks."

"Well, I can confirm that it does all that and more," I said. She chortled and I smiled a bit. I don't know; there's just something about her. We just kind of bonded already, I'm not sure how. It's not like what Max and I have, or at least used to have. What I hope we still have. Anyways, but Samantha and I were just really... similar? I just felt really comfortable around her. It was strange, but that's the only way I could describe it.

"Well, I'll pull into this McDonald's and you can eat until you barf and then refill the tank." I smiled.

"Thank God." And I did so, not necessarily to the extent she'd implied, but I ate quite a bit. The people who took my order were certainly shocked, as was Samantha when she saw that I'd finished it all with ease. She obviously didn't know too much about me, so she's not a spy or something. She had trouble finishing her meal, and it was regular sized. But I helped her out with that too.

"You sure can knock them back," she said, "What was that: seven Big Macs?" I nodded, mouth still full. I swallowed and got a good breath in, surprisingly, full. She gave a small laugh. "Well, you've developed quite the appetite over the years." I shook my head, getting tired of this, "Over the years," crap.

"Okay, how about you stop with the Secret Squirrel crap and tell me how it is that you know me?" I mean, I didn't have a problem with her, but that was really getting annoying. She smiled.

"You always were kind of stubborn," she said, obviously playing around with me. I was getting ready to pounce on her if she didn't stop this crap. "Alright, alright, I've had my fun with confusing you." I relaxed my muscles in relief.

"Spill it." She looked at me and smiled.

"Promise you'll believe me?" she asked. I gave her a serious glare.

"We'll see," I said. She rolled her eyes.

"At least promise not to barge off without at least having me prove I'm not lying?" I looked at her for a moment, contemplating the offer. It seemed rational. I nodded and she repositioned herself awkwardly. After she regained eye contact, she sighed and smiled.

"You're real name is Blake Lott," she said. It took me only a nanosecond to see what she was getting at, "I'm your sister." Pretty much needless to say, I denied it to her and whoever else might've heard it. The only exception that I didn't deny it to... was myself. Looking at her, I could see a slight resemblance. The way that her jaw curved, her eyes, it was almost doubtless that she was telling the truth. But that didn't mean that I had to admit that to her.

"Alright," I said, "Get to the proof." I wanted to be absolutely sure before I even considered this, even if I was already considering it. She rolled her eyes and nonchalantly replied.

"Birthmark on your right hip," she said. "Does it, or does it not match the one of the baby in this picture?" She held up the same picture from her car. I scanned it, and it did, in fact, match my birthmark. I looked at her.

"Could be a coincidence," I said, "You could've gotten that picture off the internet." She smiled.

"True," she said, "But could all of these pictures of identical babies be a coincidence?" She showed me picture after picture of the same baby, I knew.

"Could be your kid," I said.

"My kids look nothing like this," she said, "Here are pictures of my kids." She pulled photos out of two babies, and it was easy to differentiate between the two and to tell neither of them were the same as the one from before. I thought of a loophole, any that I could think of. Suddenly, I found one.

"I can't have had an older sister," I said, "They didn't know who my father was and my mom was a teen." She looked at me as if she wasn't fully convinced before, but she was now. She smiled wide, about to cry.

"Our mom had me when she was only 13, and the father was some kid from her school that denied it. They didn't even bother asking for child support" she said, "Her parents said if it ever happened again, they were going to kick her out. When she had you at 16, they did just that. That father ran as soon as he knew that she was pregnant, and we haven't heard from him since. She was poor, and she couldn't handle two kids on her own, so the only chance she had was to sell you to pay the bills. One place offered us a million dollars for you, and mom took it without hesitation." Tears started to run down her cheeks as she finished the statement, but she kept smiling.

Now, did I have every reason to believe she could be making all of this up. Well, maybe not every reason, but it wasn't improbable that she could be lying. But there was just something about it, too many coincidences, to believe that it was just a whole bunch of lies strung up in a good sequence. And even the age differential was accurate, as far as I could tell. Okay, this next question would seal the deal.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"23," she said. I sighed, directing his face down, yet still looking at her.

"Alright," he said, "I believe you. Stop crying." She smiled wider, but the tears didn't stop. I hesitantly moved myself over to her side of the table. As you know, I'm not really one for the whole mushy gushy emotion crap. The closest I've ever come is with Max, and that wasn't even really much. But I did know how to comfort someone, I'd done it a thousand times with Angel and Nudge. I put my arm around her shoulders and squeezed.

"Alright, calm down," I said, "_Sister._"

_**Okay, so, Fang may seem a bit off in this chapter buuuuuuuuut, he was supposed to! That was the whole point. It was to show the automatic relation between the two, how comfortable he felt around her. So no hate about Fang's OOC, please. But do review, critiquing is accepted and admired. **_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Weeeeeeeelllllllllllllllll, it's about that time again, huh? I'd say it's past that time, actually. Sorry I haven't updated, I've been busy. But here's a pretty long one, sooooooooooooooooooo enjoy!**_

"So what do we do now?" Nudge asked. We were all sitting around the kitchen table, having a Flock meeting for the first time in ages. And we left an extra seat open, kind of just out of respect. Fang's presence would soon be known, hopefully. I looked across the table at her, directly in the eyes.

"We find Fang," I stated simply. Of course, that could be ridiculously easy, or amazingly difficult.

Suddenly, there was a loud buzzing sound that broke the air's equilibrium. I hopped up startled for a moment, then I reached in my pocket and grabbed my phone. I flipped it open and put the speaker to my ear. "Hello?"

"Max?" Well, I have just deciphered that this would be ridiculously easy, seeing as it was Fang's voice on the other end of the phone. I sighed in relief as the rest of the Flock simply stared in confusion. "It's Fang," I mouthed, putting my phone to my shoulder. I could tell that a weight had been lifted from their shoulders after hearing that. I put the phone back up to my ear.

"Yes?" I asked. He seemed rather... excited. And to be able to tell that on Fang in any situation is quite the accomplishment, but over the phone? Something amazing must have happened. He spoke to a female voice in the background, presumably the woman that he had messed around with to make Banter. It really sickened me to even think about it.

"Listen, get to 378 Magnolia Boulevard ASAP," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Fang, when are you going to learn to call a little _before _we go to look for you in a place where you're not? We could've gotten arrested for attempting to jail-break a person that wasn't even _at the prison._" He didn't even respond before hanging up the phone, but I could tell he was listening. It's weird thing with the way that he breathes. It's hard to explain, his breathing just kind of changes when he's listening. It gets silent, so he can hear it loud and clear. He's the only person I know who can breath with absolutely positively _no _sound.

"Alright," I said, "We're off on another wild goose chase again. Does anyone know where Magnolia Boulevard is?" Ella, who had just recently walked in and grabbed a soda, looked over in surprise.

"Yeah," she said, "My friend lives over that way. I'll drive you there." I was going to decline in an attempt at a flying opportunity, but due to the fact I don't know who all will be around, I decided it was best to lay low on that whole ordeal. And so we all piled into Ella's old, kind of raggedy car. She's had the same car since she was 16. She'd been saving up to buy a new one, and she's almost there. I just hope no unexpected expenses come up.

"Alright," she said, "Here we are."

"Where does your friend live?" asked Nudge. She shrugged.

"I could never remember the address." We all walked up to the construction, quite grandiloquent structure, I might add. It was two stories, and it was a pretty nice little setup that this person had. I have no idea who abides in this place, but they've got a pretty good life, I'm guessing. I hesitantly knocked on the door, slightly afraid we'd come to the wrong house. I don't know why, but I always get that feeling when I go places. Soon enough, a blond woman opened the door.

"Hello?" she asked. I started to cower back to the car to avoid conversation.

"Oh, I think we have the wrong address," I replied. Just as I turned to walk a little faster, she held up her hands, telling me to wait.

"Hold on," she said, "You're with Fang?" My heart stopped cold when I heard his name. For two separate reasons, actually. First off, the whole lovey dovey emotion crap I always get with hearing his name. Second, Fang _never _gives his name to people he doesn't absolutely trust. He won't just give you his name, I knew. He usually puts it under Nick after that incident way back when. My suspicion about this being Banter's mother was growing rapidly. And now that I got a good look at her, Banter highly resembled her.

Speaking of Banter, she'd been holding my hand this whole time without my acknowledgement. I guess I was just kind of shocked that we were going to see Fang again, I don't know. Regardless, there she was, right beside me. She looked up at the woman, and she didn't seem like she knew who she was. Which is strange, because I'm sure that she would've at least saw her mother once and remembered. I mean, _I _didn't, but I figured she would.

"Yeah," I answered awkwardly. "We're with Fang."

"Well, come on in," she said hospitably. The Flock filed in the place, and I had no choice but to follow. My mother hadn't come, seeing as by the time we'd gotten home, she went straight to bed. She was reaching that age where you go to bed really early. And so I slowly entered the doorway, Banter still by my side. As soon as I spotted Fang, evidently Banter had as well, because she bolted to him. She hopped up on him and hugged his neck. Her small arms were almost too short to wrap all the way around. I couldn't even help but smile.

As soon as he spotted me, he looked away, a bit shamefully. His focus was on the carpet as he held his daughter in his arms. He licked his lips and took the chance to glance up at me. "Max," he stated simply. I swallowed.

"Fang." I sat down on one of the numerous couches, in fact. This lady was chocked full of money. Fang went into the kitchen, carrying Banter with him, and soon returned. By the time he had, all of the seats were filled with people, so that only one was left. _Right _beside me. He swallowed and looked at me.

"May I?" he asked. He seemed just a bit too polite today. Apparently he didn't like having his two loves in the same room together. Why exactly he wanted me to come over to his baby mama's house, I'll never know. He could've just said drop Banter off. But regardless, I'm here now, so someone better get to talking.

"Go for it," I said. He sat down beside me, placing Banter on the edge of his knee, as most father's do.

"Alright guys," he said, starting the conversation. That is a legitimate first. "There's actually a reason that I called you to this random lady's house today, and that's because this isn't just some random lady."

"Well who is she?" Iggy interrupted. Fang simply glared as a response.

"This," he swallowed, "Is my sister."

Didn't see that one coming.

Okay, so only Iggy and I have found our biological parents so far, and I'm the only one who's found a sibling, so this was actually pretty big. Plus, Fang found his sibling without any help from people who are actually inside on that information. So, plus points for him.

"Really?" asked Gazzy. He scanned her from head to toe. "Nice." Iggy stifled a laughter at Gazzy's comment, and Fang ignored their ignorance and proceeded.

"Yes, this is my sister, and she could actually have some useful information on the rest of your parents." Iggy reached complete and utter silence, as did the rest of the Flock. Parents were always a sore point for the Flock, and Iggy respected that by stopping his laughter. Only Fang could get to a point that fast without giving any back story on it. It's one of the things that I love about him.

Eh, forget I said that.

And so, after dropping that little bomb of a statement, he simply got up, setting Banter gently on the couch next to me, and went into the kitchen. So, basically he left all of us with our mouths wide while he went off to eat Twinkies. I got up and followed him, no one bothering to follow.

"Um, Fang," I said, "You called us all over here to get our hope up and then not act on anything?" He glared at me as a response. He was doing that to a lot of people after the incident, I'd already realized.

"Actually," he said, "We need to talk. But that was a good decoy, huh?"

**_And now things are still escalating in the story! What does Fang have to say to Max? I do wonder... REVIEW :D_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Alrighty guys, well, this is where things get a little bit interesting! Characters go out of their comfort zone, take chances, and a long-lost friend is found! So... GET TO READING.**_

I looked him right in the eyes, still mad about the last time we talked. "Last time we talked, I discovered you'd broken every unspoken promise that I thought we'd ever had, so I'm not really sure." He sighed and looked at me.

"Listen," he said, "I know that wasn't a good memory for either of us, but we really need to talk." I sighed and granted him a chance.

"About what?" I asked. He swallowed, then said something that surprised me. Like, I figured this went completely against Fang code. I thought he'd taken an oath when he was extremely young to avoid this sort of confrontation. But here he was, standing in front of me, not even faltering over the words.

"We need to talk about us." I looked at him momentarily, then raised an eyebrow at him.

"What, 'Us,'" I said rather harshly. He looked at me, seemingly not phased, and wouldn't look away. And because of that simple fact, I couldn't look away either. It was just this weird thing about his eyes that drew me in.

"Max," he said, "Don't lie to me. I've tried to deny it, and you've tried to deny it, but let's face it. It doesn't matter how long we stay apart, as soon as we see each other again, we feel the same way as we did before." I raised an eyebrow again, even though every fiber of my being wanted to jump up and smash my face right against his. But that's not really my style, you know?

"I don't know what you're talking..." My voice trailed off in his glare. As he closed the distance between us, my brain wanted me to move away, and my heart wanted me to help him close it, but I couldn't decide which one to follow. So I basically just stood their like an idiot. His hands rested on my back, and almost like the first time we'd really kissed out in that desert, as soon as our lips touched, my synapses shattered inside of my brain. And my instinct was still telling me to run, but I paused for a moment, felt how I wanted to, and then my arms hesitantly found their way around his neck.

Damn him for being right all the time.

We parted and I found a bright smile on his face, amazingly out of character for him. He pulled me into his chest, which I admittedly enjoyed, but still. I loved kissing him after so long, it was like heaven, but I just wasn't sure if we could just act like it never happened. I sighed and lifted my head to look at him. "Fang," I said, "I'm not sure if I can do this." He looked me right in the eyes and did his half-grin thing.

"I knew you wouldn't," he said. He repositioned himself awkwardly, "You'll never be sure about it. That's just you being the independent, egotistical person that you are," _Excuse me?_ "But sometimes your best decisions are the ones that are risky. You, of all people, know that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. He looked at me with a serious face.

"Do you happen to recall how exactly you met your mother for the first time?" he asked me. I gritted my teeth inside of my lips and slowly nodded. He raised both of his eyebrows. "Yeah, what was the chance that they'd take you in, find your wings, and sell you back to the school for a small fortune?" I sighed.

"Large." He nodded.

"But it felt right, so you did it, even though your mind told you that you should've never done it." I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. He was absolutely right. _Again_. Sometimes I hate that he's _never _wrong or illogical. Just when you decide on something stupid, he's there to tell you all of the stuff wrong with that plan. Sure, it was helpful on occasion, but regardless, it was annoying when it was against my will.

"Fang, I'm just not sure." He took my chin in his hand, much softer this time, seeing as he knew that I wouldn't necessarily punch his lights out this time, and put his lips to mine. It was more of a passionate kiss rather than the lustful one from before. My hands involuntarily found their way around his neck once again, and so it was decided. My heart was telling me to give him another chance, even when my brain was totally against it. I sighed against his lips and finally gave in to my heart's demand. When we parted, I slowly nodded.

"Okay," I hardly whispered.

"What was that?" he asked me teasingly. I glared at him seriously.

"Don't push me Fang, I'm still on edge about this decision, what when you've still got the mother of Banter out there to replace me the second that I leave." It both hurt my heart and pumped my adrenaline thinking about Banter's mother. Not the woman herself, just the fact Fang had created Banter with her. I hated her. There was no rational reason to hate her in specific, but I did. She was the bane of my existence.

"Oh Max," he said, pulling me into his chest again, "It'll all make sense soon, you just have to trust me." Regardless of what he said, I still wasn't sure about this whole situation.

_You can't always be on guard, Max. _

Crap.

_Really Voice? I haven't heard from you in years, and you just decide to pop up in a time like this? I swear, if this is Jeb I will come over there and finish what Fang started. _

_There's a prime example, Maximum, _the Voice said, monotone and non-differentiable as ever. It couldn't be Jeb. _You always assume the worst, even from the greatest of allies. _

_Since when is Jeb my ally? _I asked it. In true Voice fashion, it simply disregarded my question and kept on with its Confucius bull crap.

_Have you ever considered that not everything goes wrong in your life?_ I was astonished it even had to ask that question.

_Name one thing that's going right! _

_You have a family, Maximum. That's what you'd always aspired to have. You have refuge, relative safety, and the big picture is still ever expanding. Trust Fang, and listen to what he has to say. Fang is put here for you to assure that things will be alright. He's the other half of you, Max. _And that is when I went off.

_Wait just one second! Weren't you the one that told me _Dylan _was supposed to be my other half? Now you're going to change it because you see that he and I could never make amends enough to even be in the same room without me decapitating him? _

In fact, that's the reason that you may have noticed that Dylan is no longer mentioned in this account of my life. Because I told him if he ever came back again I'd rip off his head, use his body as a pinata for my next birthday and use his skull as a candy bowl dish on Halloween.

_Dylan is your perfect other half, Maximum. Fang is also your other half, just not the perfect other. _I rolled my eyes both inward and outwardly.

"Well, thanks for clearing that up," I said. As in, _out loud_. Fang looked at me strangely, seeing as by now I'd subconsciously made my way back to the living room and about ten minutes had passed since the conversation between me and him. The rest of the Flock looked at me as well, wondering what in the world was going on with me. So it was pretty much back to normal with us.

"Sorry, Voice." Fang's sister, whom I'd completely disregarded was in the room, gave me a strange glance while everyone else simply nodded in understanding. I shook my head at her, telling her not to ask.

_Patience is a virtue, Max. _I sighed and didn't even bother to retort any more. Having a philosopher who is terribly nondescript abiding in your head is enough to drive anyone crazy. So, I decided to just disregard that my head now had even less vacancy than before by pulling a blanket over me, seeing as I'd been getting cold in this meat-locker of a house. Don't get me wrong, it's a cozy looking place, but so is Antarctica. We all know how _that _ended.

Fang grabbed my hand, and I was tempted to slap him. However, his hands were warm and hospitable, and, seeing as he was sitting right next to me, he made it covert by pulling some of the blanket over our hands. We aren't letting the Flock know until at _least _three days into this thing. I have to make sure that this isn't just going to pass over. He rubbed his thumb up the side of my index finger. And for some reason, that made me relatively calm.

**_Tadah! REVIEW :D_**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Alrighty guys, second update this week! And one thing before you read, I looked at my story traffic, and on all of my stories, I've gotten over a thousand hits from the US alone! And, as a reward, I'm going to be updating twice on this story, and maybe some on my other stories, and maybe even creating a new story, all today! Thank you guys, it really meant a lot to me! **_

"I'm sorry, could you please repeat that order?" asked I. My leader sighed and turned his chair, directing an ominous gaze upon what he considered a simple ingrate. I knew him well enough to know that's exactly what he saw me as. But I didn't complain; after all, he is giving me a roof to live under, some sort of clothes to wear each day, and nourishment for the time being. So for now I'll just play the cards I've been dealt.

"You're one of my most brilliant creations," my so-called master declared to me. Had he not completely forgotten the abilities he'd given me and spoke about me, thinking I couldn't hear him, I would've been flattered. But he did, and so I wasn't. He was the only thing standing between me and freedom, however also the only thing delaying an encounter with death. And, as previously stated, I'm going to play the cards I'm dealt.

"Yes," I said, "But, as one of your most brilliant creations, don't you think I might have a more challenging opponent?" I looked at the small girl on the screen. She was small, perhaps seven, and her eyes directed a gaze of utter boredom. Completely emotionless. However, her smile seemed genuine, like this was the best day of her entire life. Her long blond hair stopped just after her shoulder, straight and flowing like a river. She was actually quite beautiful, for her age.

I may be a mutant made for the sole purpose of murdering those mutants who aren't working out in the world, but I do have a heart. And I have a mind; a quite advanced one, at that. It's immune to any sort of hypnosis, including the one that we implement upon our followers. I hate this whole organization, and frankly, I just want to burn it to the ground. However, I can't. One turn out of line, my leader's all over me. And he's ready to pounce. I certainly didn't want that.

"I think you'll find this opponent quite challenging," he said, "Trust me." I scrunched my brow, but nodded hesitantly. "And besides the extreme challenge presented within the child herself, you must also face the people around her. Her father is quite the genetic anomaly, as well as her mother. You'll have to eliminate them before you'll ever get to the girl. And even then, you'll have a challenge on your hands." He spoke so pridefully of her; so different than from when he spoke about me to his clients. It infuriated me.

"Yes, master," I stated succinctly.

"Oh, and don't fail me as Jeb has," he said, "For, you may succumb to the same fate." Suddenly, a large screen behind his head, which I was completely oblivious to, rung to life. It showed the elderly man hanging from a wall, two chains suspending his wrists in the air. I imagined that was quite uncomfortable, and quickly nodded to my superior. He smiled.

"He's going to be there for a long, long time," he said. I nodded quickly at the sight. I could already see the man emaciating before my very eyes. He had always been thin, but now, as his torso was bare, you could just barely see the outline of his ribs. He's going to die one of the worst deaths possible: a slow one.

"You descend to the Americas in two days," the man said simply, "From there you, must travel across the country. Without vehicles, unfortunately. But I don't think that'll be too much of a problem for someone of your build." The leader smiled almost as if he was bragging on me. Although I know that wasn't genuine, it was still nice to hear.

"Nope," I said, whipping out an eighteen-foot wingspan that can barely fit in the chamber. The man in front of me smiled, and I couldn't help but return it. I hated this man. I hated him with every fiber of my being, every syllable in this sentence, every cell in my bloodstream. But I have to follow his orders.

After all, he is my father.

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	16. Chapter 16

_**Second chapter up for you guys! Thanks again for a thousand hits this month! **_

"Well," I heard from Fang a matter of hours after we'd re-entered the room and plopped ourselves on the couch. He still had my hand in his, and frankly, I'd gotten used to it. Maybe even, dare I say it, _liked _it. I may have even been soothed by the fact, but anyways. We'd been talking for what seemed like forever about any information that Fang's sister could give us about the Flock's parents.

To sum it up, she knows quite a bit.

Turns out that the government came to Fang's mother, who had just recently, at the time, sold her child to what she thought was a government organization. Actually, it was (shocker) the School who had given her money to take her child away. The government had been out to get this organization, to them known as the ICE (International Child Experimentation) program , for quite some time now. They'd been flinging around DNA far before they created us. And they were posing as the government while doing it.

Anyways, Fang's mother, at the time a young teen and confused about the situation, was called into a big, fancy schmancy FBI investigation room to tell them all she knew about the organization. In the room were four other couples who had also just recently sold their children to the organization.

Now, you, being past the literacy rate of a Kindergartener, are probably also past the arithmetic standards of such. Meaning you counted on your fingers enough to find that four couples, plus Fang's mother, equals only five people. There are six people in the Flock. Well, we thought about that, and then remembered that my mother and father were both part of the big crazy-fest, so they didn't have to sell me. So lucky me! I got in on a fee waver!

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. The only thing that any of them could provide was the account they made the check out to. The FBI used that to try and track down anyone from the organization they could find. Now, seeing as the School is still after us today, it's not a surprise to say they didn't find squat. However, the good news is, all of the parents started a grieving circle for awhile. And you may be asking why that's good, of course. Simple.

Fang's mother was in contact with everyone else in the Flock's parents. Which means she could just as easily regain contact with them.

Now, this comes with an uncertainty, as all things in our life do. The people haven't talked in years, and we're praying that Fang's mother still has any information about them. When she got kicked out of the house, she lost everything she had. She didn't even so much as have a watch to check the time. So, all phone numbers were lost in the incident. However, there's still some hope, right? I mean, she _knew _them. _Talked _to them. That's more than their own children have done in their entire life!

"That was actually helpful," I said, "I think if we could talk to Fang's mom, we could certainly start searching." The girl smiled shyly, and then looked down at the ground.

"Better hurry," she said. I raised an eyebrow and she met my gaze. Her eyes looked pained, almost as if she was about to cry. But she pulled through the statement, "She's in the hospital. She had a seizure a week ago and they're wondering if she'll fully recover." I almost felt Fang's hand tense up in mine. He leaned forward and looked up at his sister.

"How is she?" he asked. She smiled at him.

"Don't worry," she said, "Even if she doesn't recover, she has plenty of time left." He sat back on the couch, but I could tell he was still stressed about it. His jaw was strained, almost as if he was trying to hold himself from saying, "Let's go see her right now." Even though it is midnight. Speaking of which, I figured I would've gotten the Flock to bed a long time ago. I stood up, slyly untangling Fang's hand from mine, and looked at the drowsy, yet completely excited Flock before me.

"Alright guys," I said, "You guys go on back to the house, we're gonna stay behind and try to find some more information." No one moved, but then Iggy took the lead role and stood, waiting for someone to lead him out of the door. Ella, of course, grabbed his hand and pulled him along. The rest of the Flock followed. "You can take the car; we'll just fly back." Ella yawned through a nod and then opened the door to exit. Nudge was the last one out, and the door soon slammed behind her. Once they were all gone, Fang immediately sprawled himself across one of the couches.

"So," he said, "Why'd you suggest we stay back?" He knew that I'd gotten all the information that we could out of his sister, and immediately saw there was another purpose behind my reasoning. He just didn't know what that purpose was. I disregarded his question for the moment and looked at Fang's sister with a smile.

"By the way, I'm Max," I said. She smiled back at me.

"Sam, as you know," she said, "So, you're Fang's wife?" My eyes widened and I cleared my throat, looking at Fang. He held up his hands in innocence.

"I didn't say anything," he said. The woman laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, "I just figured you were. Just because you were talking in the kitchen earlier, and I saw you holding hands under the blanket. Plus, you guys just seemed to click to me. I apologize for the misconception." I shrugged.

"No, it's fine," I said, "We do kind of have a thing going on though. I wouldn't call it dating because we never get an opportunity to date." I saw Fang smirk out of the corner of my eye, like I was a prize to have. While it was demeaning and sexist, I honestly kind of liked to be considered a prize. Just in this occasion though.

"I knew there was something there," she said. I smiled a little. I don't know; there's just something about someone I don't even really know noticing that Fang and I are in love. It just kind of lets me know that we're doing something right. Like we're not _total _freaks.

Ironically enough, after her statement I kicked Fang, telling him to move so I can sit. He managed to get himself to a sitting position and I sat next to him, as close as possible. He laid his arm over my shoulders and squeezed me into him, just like old times. It was kind of nice to think about it. I looked up to him, noticing how he'd cleaned himself up, yet somehow he was also rougher. But it was a good kind of rough. It suits his lifestyle.

"I think the kids are kind of stressed out," I said, "I mean, what with the mission today, almost getting arrested for breaking into a jail that _you weren't even in_, and now they're reminded they don't have biological parents to look after them."

"Well, they're not kids any more, Max," he said. He's back for a few hours and he's already giving me advice again. I don't think I ever realized just how much I need him. "They need to learn how to handle the bigger jobs. And besides, just because they got comfortable for a little while is not an excuse for them to be tired out. We went through much worse than that as children; they can handle it now." I looked up at him again, unsure.

"I just think maybe tomorrow we could do something kind of," I thought for a good word, "Fun." Fang raised an eyebrow at me with a playful half-smirk.

"You, the full-time rainer of parades, the undisputed party pooper, the one and only bubble burster of the Flock want to do something _fun_?" he asked. I glared at him and smiled.

"Yes," I said, "And thank you for letting me know I was doing my job right."

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	17. Chapter 17

_**It's been a long while, guys! Sorry, I had serious Writer's Block on this story! I hated it just as much as you guys, but not it's back under way! Hope you like this chapter! I know the Fax lovers will. **_

"Rise and shine," I heard early the next morning. I groaned and nuzzled into whatever surface I'd fallen asleep on. Whatever it was it was comfortable, and it was the only place I wanted to be right now. I heard an impatient sigh right before I heard something a bit worse.

A freaking air horn.

I didn't jump and scream like most would, but I _did _yell at my unwanted alarm clock for waking me. I didn't actually scream any words; mostly unintelligible gibberish. But she was a persistent one. We'd fallen asleep at Fang's sister's house, and she was almost as stubborn as me. Perhaps even more so. Which threw me completely off. Eventually I cracked my eyelids open, letting the sun sear my brain into gear. Well, more or less.

As my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked directly down to find Fang's chest was the pillow I'd used to rest myself. Of course it was. I mean, Lord knows Max can't play it safe and fully regain trust in Fang before she goes off and gets all fluttery like she was before. That would just be too easy. No, she has to get emotionally attached right off the bat and risk being just as devastated if he does end up leaving again.

I need to work on my stubbornness.

I looked up to find Fang, as usual, but there was something _way _off about him. To be exact, he was smiling. _Wide. _As in, that stupid ear-to-ear-smile-that-only-movie-stars-and-small-children-can-pull-off wide. And though he doesn't fit into either category, he could certainly pull it off. And seeing Fang smile subconsciously in his dreaming forced me to mimic him. It was really sweet, actually.

And then I punched him in the chest.

He didn't so much as flinch, but it was enough to startle him into a waking. An angry waking, but a waking nonetheless. He was still a bit drowsy, so he didn't feel like getting into an argument already. As a result of that, he kept his mouth shut. He squeezed me into him tight and regained the goofy smile from before. But it didn't look goofy on him; he could actually make it work. And, seeing as Fang is terribly out of character today, I decided to do something out of my comfort zone. Well, it's out of my comfort zone right _now_, it wasn't always and Lord knows it won't always be. I kissed him deep and passionate right in front of his sister.

And you know what? I didn't care.

He was initially shocked by the gesture, especially so early (both early in the day and early in our making up process). However, he soon found himself back into the groove of kissing me like this, and followed suit. And it was amazing. At one point, I'd forgotten where we were, who we were with, even the circumstances we were under. I forgot that I was a mutant freak who had to save the world soon, while running from the people I have to save it from. I forgot that Fang had ever run off, had ever had a child with someone else, was pretty much in the same position I was with saving the world. I just focused on the fact that this was me, and this was the boy that I love. And I wanted him to know it.

But the Lord knows _that _couldn't last either.

"Yes!" I heard from a more familiar voice than before. I groaned and hesitantly parted myself from Fang.

"Nudge, if you speak of this to any of the rest of the Flock, I will rip your fingers off and make you hold them." She looked at me curiously for a moment.

"But if you're ripping my fingers off, how will I be able to hold them?" she asked.

"Wanna find out?" I asked. She thought about it for a moment and then wordlessly left the doorway. I'd realized that at some point Fang's sister had left the room. _Thank God_, I thought. I just... really needed a few minutes with Fang right now. I kept kissing him like before, and just like that, we were those two teens out in the desert again. Just going with the flow, and both of us generally catching the same drift. We were so in sync without saying a word. It was spectacular. We finally parted, and suddenly, I was so amazingly, terribly scared. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something terrified me more than anything in the world, and all I wanted to do was hold Fang and have him hold me back. Was this one of those headache attacks like before?

"Well," Fang said calmly, somehow alleviating my tension for the most-part. His voice always did that, somehow. Sometimes I hated it, sometimes I loved it. Just depended if I wanted to be pissed or not. A lot of times I do, actually. Because that gives me reason to rip someone's head off, instead of having to just play Russian Roulette. "We better get up. We've got a big day ahead of us." I scrunched my brow.

"What do you mean?" He smiled.

"Didn't you hear? We're going to war." I got a little worried about what he meant.

"Elaborate?" Wordlessly, in true Fang style, he pulled a water gun out of God knows where and squirted it in my face. He simply took in my reaction at first, which consisted of a playfully furious visage. Something we had often in the Flock household. Then came that wide smile again, and he quickly got up out of the bed and started running out of the room.

"Top drawer of the dresser for your gun," he said, already halfway down the hallway. Oh, I'm going to kill him. He's smart for running. I immediately sprung up and started searching for the water gun he'd hidden.

Just as I made it out of the precipice of the doorway, I heard, "Arm yourselves! The war's begun!"

And so began just about the best day I've had in a long while.

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	18. Chapter 18

**_Alright guys, this is a super-short chapter, but I'm uploading two at a time, and the next one is gargantuan. I just felt like we needed to add this in. I mean, we didn't need to, but I thought it felt right. Anyways... ENJOY! :D_**

"So, how do you feel today Ms. Lott?" the doctor had asked me. I slowly turned my head to look at him. To tell the truth, I felt weaker than I'd ever felt in my life. I wanted to just tell him to either give me so many painkillers I can't feel anything, or to end it all. It was terrible pain. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy.

"Fine." I forced a smile in his direction. He glanced at his clipboard and looked at my vital signs. The nerve endings in my head felt as if they were trying to detach themselves from me completely. I wish they would. He sighed a bit, and at one point his face seemed to flush a little. He then looked at me with an obviously fake smile.

"No pain at all?" Yes. More pain than any person can imagine.

"Nope. I'm feeling just peachy," I said. I'm in too bad shape to be only 34. It's such a terrible feeling to have a seizure so young. I feel so hopeless. As if I'll never be relieved of the pain that I've had my whole life. Most of it has only been emotional, but now there's severe physical pain as well. If I died right now, I wouldn't really mind all that much.

"Well, you know, your signs haven't changed much since you've been given care here. That's a bit troubling, but I think you'll be fine." I could look in his eyes and tell that was a lie. I almost wanted to call him out on it, but I didn't feel like I should waste my breath. I had a feeling my last was coming soon. "Would you like to call your family?" I almost chuckled at that.

Family. What did I have of a family? I only had one person that had the same blood as me: my daughter. I haven't seen her in months, possibly a year or two. I haven't had contact with my parents since I was 16, nor have I seen my siblings since. The last person I've seen from my family, other than my daughter, was my aunt. I had to live with her until I was 18. Soon after that, they kicked me to the curb to handle myself. I suppose I should call my daughter, in case this is one of my very last breaths. I want to be able to talk to the one person of my family that I'm in contact with.

"Yeah," I said, "Hand me the phone."

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	19. Chapter 19

_**Ha, told you this one would be a doozy! This one has a little bit of everything. So, I think you guys will really like it. On this chapter, more than any, I really want you guys to review. So, enjoy, and please review :D **_

Well, by now we've been going at this water war for a good two hours. We've all found our sea-legs, so to speak, and are becoming skilled assassins in the art of water fights. It's all the fun of regular fighting with less injuries! So, seeing as the Flock absolutely loves fighting, but doesn't want to hurt each other (at least some of the time), this is right down our alley.

I carefully surveyed my surroundings, completely hidden from nearly every facet behind the kitchen counter. The only places that you could see me from, I'd see you first. Funny how I can turn even the funnest thing into a strategic challenge. Likewise, I could turn any strategic challenge into the funnest thing, but I digress.

I heard the slightest movement and started honing in on the sound. It was intermittent, yet ever loudening. Whomever was making the noise was approaching. The light placed in the middle of the room provided me aid in this case, displaying a long shadow, giving me an actual visual to how close the object was. Well, seeing as I can hear it, it's not Fang. The silhouette wasn't quite thin enough to be Iggy. It wasn't over-adorned with clothing, so it wasn't Nudge. It didn't have Angel's curls...

_Gazzy_.

Well, he needed a good kick in the rear for setting off a bomb in the backyard last week, nearly setting the _whole freaking forest _on fire. Just as I estimated his position at just above the counter top, I sprung up and sprayed him mercilessly. He was too shocked to reply, and I left before he could get a handle on his weapon. I sprung up the steps and into a room. Before I knew it, I'd collided hard with an even harder chest. Before I registered who it was, they shushed me and pulled me farther into the room.

"I come in peace," said the voice, deep and ominous. A voice that could belong to none other than Fang. I looked up at him. I sprayed him in the face lightly, but stopped soon after. I'd never gotten him back for attacking me as I was defenseless. Given the fact he can fade into any background he had kind of an unfair advantage anyways. He wiped his face of water and looked at me. "I suppose I deserved that." I winked at him.

"We talking an alliance?" I asked him. He responded with his half-grin and we clicked in the instant. I instantly started forming a schematic in my mind, as any instinctive leader would. I looked him directly in the eyes. It was funny; just this morning when we looked each other in the eyes, it was followed by passionate kissing. Now, it would be followed by playful mischief. Yet, his eyes looked at me the same. But I couldn't put my finger on the emotion in them. I mean, Fang hides all of his emotions, but I can always see it when I look in his eyes. But it's only I who can do that.

"Alright, you go downstairs and hide behind the counter. Gazzy might be behind there already, so you might have to run him off first. If someone spots you, start running up the stairs as loud as you can, and I'll come in and we can flank them. If you hear me stomping down the steps, hide in that cranny under the counter and wait for a good opportunity to flank. Got it?" He simply nodded in response. He gave me a peck on the cheek and started out the door, so quiet that I couldn't hear him even as I sat four feet away from him. Man, he's good.

"Banana," he said. I raised an eyebrow, "That's the signal word. You hear, 'Banana,' get ready to raise Hell." I smiled and nodded.

"Banana it is." He shot down the stairs literally inaudibly and presumably took his position. I decided to scope out the top floor to see who made camp up here. And then hopefully bust their operation. As far as I knew, there were four rooms upstairs. I craned my neck around the precipice of the doorway and found no immediate danger. As slyly as possible, I entered the room to my very right. I did the same with the room across the hall from that, and then attempted to enter the last room.

It didn't end quite as well.

Just as I fully entered the doorway, the door slammed shut and I was attacked by both Iggy and Ella. I fiddled with the door to get it open again, but they managed to get me fairly damp before I did so. They pursued me down the hallway, which was their only mistake.

Just as they got to the bottom of the stairway (AKA too late to retreat), I screamed, "Bananas!" They turned to me and aimed for another shot, only to be sprayed by Fang himself from behind. He was holding one gun in each hand, with impeccable aim on both of his targets. Apparently his water was especially cold, because they both nearly cowered to their knees when he sprayed them. Just as they'd attempted to hone on him, I started spraying them back and forth, evenly dispersing the water.

Ella and Iggy soon decided to retreat, right after yelling, "Bombs away!" Fang and I managed to get a celebratory peck in, right before we were splashed severely with not a stream of water, but puddles. In case you didn't catch that drift, either from what Iggy and Ella said or from my description, there were water balloons coming from somewhere. And suddenly, both me and Fang were drenched. _That, _I have no doubt, was a bucket being poured over us. I looked up to the top floor of the house to find Gazzy, apparently in on this alliance with Iggy and Ella.

Ah, the allies, the betrayal and the secrets. It's like a soap opera, but not boring.

Fang and I stared disapprovingly up at Gazzy as he smiled almost childishly. "Oh," he said, "And I saw that. Don't try to play it off." He was obviously referring to the kiss. Fang and I looked at each other. He shrugged, seemingly seeing if I approved of his knowing. I smiled and he returned the gesture. We finally kissed, more than a peck, but it's not like we were making out right in public either.

Only to be barraged by everyone.

And when I say everyone, I mean _everyone_. Iggy and Ella had apparently reloaded, Gazzy apparently dipped into his second batch of water balloons, Nudge and Angel were both spraying relentlessly at us, Fang's sister was more focused on Fang. So, yeah, when I said everyone, I meant it.

It was kind of one of those Hallmark family moments that wasn't _that _lame. I was laughing so hard, and Fang was even showing signs of unbridled chortling. In the middle of the ambush Fang looked at me playfully and interlocked both of our hands together. Keep in mind, this is already _completely _out of Fang fashion. He winked at me, even as we were being drenched.

"Ever been kissed in the rain?" he asked. I shook my head. "Well, hopefully this is close enough." He kissed me sweetly. I'm pretty sure he just planned it to be a quick two or three second kiss, but I wouldn't let him cut it off. That was the sweetest, most romantic, corniest chick-flick line I'd ever heard. I think he deserved a nice, long kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck. But this wasn't like our kissing this morning. This was just one long, sweet kiss. Once we finally parted, he smiled again. "Stop it." I raised an eyebrow playfully.

"Stop what?" I asked him.

"Making me happy," he said, "It's not good for my Fang persona." I couldn't help cut chuckle a bit.

Finally, the ambush stopped, and Fang and I were in center-stage. Everyone looked at us as if this was some corny chick-flick (the second chick-flick reference that's happened today). Finally, someone (guess who) broke the silence with a squeal. "I knew it; I just knew it," said none other than Nudge. I smiled at her and straightened the collar of Fang's shirt, which I'd ruffled putting my hands around his neck. Man, I'm really becoming kind of a fembot (_**A/N Internet cookies for anyone who can tell me what I'm referencing there! Review saying you know the answer and then PM the answer. Remember, review first! Shouldn't be too hard at all)**_.

I heard Iggy mumble something under his breath. Now, if you know anything about Iggy, you know that if he mumbles something under his breath, it's probably not good. But, given Ella's reaction, gripping his hand and kissing him on the cheek, it wasn't offensive. Either it wasn't offensive or I was about to kick both of them in the teeth. "What was that, Iggy?" Fang asked intimidatingly before I could. He blushed at the mention of his comment. He seemed almost mortified.

"Oh, tell them, Iggy. It was cute!" I nearly chuckled at the mention of the word cute to describe Iggy. Either he takes her compliments differently, or she hasn't caught the drift that Iggy doesn't take well to that compliment. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Love finds a way," he said. "That's, mine and Ella's song. I just thought it'd fit..." He shut himself up and started shifting from foot to foot. He was obviously waiting for the teasing from me and Fang, but neither of us said a word. In fact, we looked at each other, and nodded. It fit perfectly into this situation.

"Thanks, Ig," I said, to his surprise. Fang took my hand into his, to my surprise. He was never one for public displays of affection. Then of course, he also just kissed me in front of everyone too, so I suppose he'd become a bit more comfortable with it in my absence.

Fang's sister, who I didn't know had left the room, resurfaced with a bit of a shocked look on her face. She held her phone up, and she was staring directly at Fang. He, as calm as he always is, didn't seem bothered by her shock. "Fang," she said, "I think you need to hear this." His expression didn't even change. That was one Fang quality that hadn't changed. She dialed her voicemail as we all listened to the voice intently.

"_You have one new voicemail, and two old voicemails_," she pressed a button on the phone, probably skipping the a voicemail or two, then set the phone on the table. "Samantha," followed by a wretched cough. The voice seemed old and gritty, "Samantha, I'd like you to drop by my room right away, if you wouldn't mind. I'm not doing too good. I think I need to see you, just in case I don't make it out of this. Please baby, I need the one family member I still talk to to be here. I love you." It was followed by a fit of coughs, and then the phone cut off.

Fang looked at the phone as if it had just given him his death date. And it wasn't just his eyes that showed it, his whole face did. And his hand had tensed up in my hand. That worried me to the point that I couldn't speak, couldn't ask questions, I could only hold his hand and try to be reassuring. I'd _never _seen Fang like I saw him right now. Everyone could read his face like a book. And me? It was like I was watching a movie. A horror movie.

"What's that have to do with Fang?" Nudge finally asked.

Fang's breath sped up a bit, and he leaned on the counter. I almost thought I heard him utter, "Oh, God. Please no." As for his sister; she was in tears. Of course, that left the rest of us in a total blank as to whatever is going on. I audibly heard Fang not only sigh, but gulp right afterwards. He took a few deep breaths in and out, manually regaining his composure. Right after, his face was... _descriptively _nondescript.

"You're telling me," he said, obviously referring to his sister, "That's our mother?" My heart stopped in my chest. Fang's sister could do nothing but nod as her tears literally streamed down her face. Fang simply leaned on the counter, staring intently down between his hands as if the granite was the answer to all his questions. Wordlessly, I put my hand to his chin and gently willed his attention to my eyes. He looked at me, and the look in his eyes alone made me want to burst into tears myself. And it was his mother.

"What do we do now?" I asked him. He kept looking at me; his eyes pleading for someone to hold him and tell him things would be okay. He wanted someone to just let him lean on them. He wanted someone to give him hope, whether it was false or not.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "We go visit her." I could tell he tried to make that statement sound like it was nothing. But his emotional shield had emaciated, and it came out almost pitiful. I'd never dreamed of seeing Fang like this. Never wanted to see Fang like this.

"And so we shall." I gave him a weak smile and kissed him on the cheek. He was so out of it that he didn't return the gesture. He just looked at me. "Guys, I think Fang needs a minute. Gazzy, try to calm down Sam." Luckily enough, everyone went upstairs. So, we had the whole living room to ourselves. I practically dragged Fang to the couch and sat him down next to me. His eyes never left mine.

"Fang, I know it's not like you to do this, but you really need to talk," I said. At the exact same time, Fang said...

"Please give me a few minutes to vent."

This is apparently opposite day.

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	20. Chapter 20

_**Alright guys, before you complain about Fang being OOC in this chapter, let me explain. The whole point of this chapter is to show how Fang's changed a bit, and how much he really, really wanted to see his mother. He wanted to see her so bad, that his shield broke at the thought of her potential death. And another thing is that it's supposed to show how he can open up to Max. How much he needs Max. So, that's the reason he's kinda mushy gushy in this chapter. So, enjoy! :D**_

I looked closely into Fang's eyes. I'd never seen him like this. He was just so... volatile. He seemed angry, depressed, scared, and needing all at the same time. As you probably know by now, Fang is not one for any emotion whatsoever, much less those rather unfavorable ones. But here he was, and his face was displaying what seemed to be a murder. A murder of his dreams. I looped my arm around his back and rubbed up and down his spine, like he'd done to me so many times before. His muscles were so tensed up, it was hard for me to rub.

"My whole life, all I've really wanted was a family," he said. "And the Flock had provided that for me. But I'd always had my doubts about how truly faithful they were to me. To the unity that we had. When the Flock split in two the first time, I saw my fears becoming a reality. And what scared me the most, is that _you _weren't on my side. The one person I thought would never leave my side, went in the complete opposite direction of me." My heart dropped in my chest, remembering the nearly long lost memory.

"But we came back together, stronger than ever. And that's when I learned that I should never leave your side," I said. He breathed in and out forcefully.

"Max, please. I don't want to argue; that's the last thing I need right now." That's probably what shocked me the most. Fang loved to argue. I decided to shut my mouth for once and just listen for a while. "After the Flock split up that one time... I started thinking. For the first time, I think... I started feeling. I felt worthless." I felt like my heart was in my stomach, and I was about to regurgitate it out of my body.

"That day in the woods still replays in my head every day. The one where Angel was telling us about our parents" he said, "They didn't know who the father was. From that point on, I knew what kind of family line I came from. I came from dirt. It's not like someone who has a child at a young age and doesn't know the father comes from a secure home. I knew from that point on that I had come from a _long _line of screw-ups." He paused, obviously uncomfortable about what he'd say next. "And even they didn't want me." I was about to burst into tears to hear someone as strong as Fang say that. Fang was my emotional rock, I now realized. I was never strong without him. And I never would be if he left again.

"And then Dillon came along," he said. His face turned from depression to pure hatred. He clenched his fist hard, digging his nails into his own palm. I didn't hold his hand, but I covered it, as in rock paper scissors. "Just when I felt like I had one person I could count on, no matter what, he came around and fucked it up." I squeezed his, well, fist.

"Now, now," I said, "Calm down. He's all gone now, babe." He relaxed, if only a bit. He closed his eyes and went on.

"And then came Angel saying I'd be the first to die. I felt like I was a liability to everyone. Felt like everything I needed, everything I _loved_, was being pulled away from me. _By me_. I just couldn't take it. I had to leave. Like I'd told you before, I knew that eventually, I'd have to choose. It wasn't just that either. It was that I knew that the side I didn't pick would be in trouble, and the side I _did _pick would be in more trouble. I just felt like..." He stopped. Almost like he couldn't go on.

"Fang," I said, "Please finish." He took a deep, deep breath in, and looked at me right in the eyes. As if he could see every answer in my eyes. He then looked down at the carpet and rested his elbows on his knees. He licked his lips before finally replying.

"I felt like it'd be better if I would've just _died _already." That one really got me. Had I been standing, my legs would've given out on me. "When I went to Dr. God out in the desert, I figured that'd fix it. It was a suicide mission," he said, "And that's what I wanted it to be. I wanted to be either cured, or I wanted to die right then. Whichever hand that fate dealt me." I breathed in and out hard, as he waited in silence, obviously waiting for my reply. Finally, I regained enough composure (not much) to reply.

"Fate doesn't get to choose when you die, Fang," I said quickly. "_You _don't even get to choose when you die. _I _get to choose when you die. And it _won't _be any time that I'm alive. If fate wants to take you, it'll have to go through me first. And by God, if you want to take yourself, we're going to have a serious problem. If you try and take yourself, I'm taking _both of us_." My breathing had picked up. I meant every word of that statement. I wouldn't let anything take Fang from me. I die first. That's a promise to myself. I die first, or simultaneously. All I know is Fang doesn't die before me.

I looked over to Fang, and he had half a grin on his face. The grin slowly grew into a wide toothy smile, and he hugged me tight into him. "Here, let's crack a deal," he whispered softly, "We die together. That way neither of us have to go a second without the other ever again." I squeezed my arms tight around him.

"Deal," I said, feeling one lone tear stream down my cheek. I played it off by nuzzling into Fang's shirt to wipe it off. Fang kept on with his venting, never parting from me an inch.

"The whole point of this is... I've never got to see my mother. And my dream in life was to see her, and tell her all of the things that I'd been through. All of the things I'd endured in her absence. To make sure that she knew that her son had made something of himself, instead of always wondering. And it doesn't look like I'll get to say little more than my name before she's gone." I squeezed him tight. After he told me all that, we were so much closer. I could feel it. Like, once we got through this... we could get through anything. Fang never seemed to care about his family. And he surely never wanted to seem like he cared about his family. After knowing all he wants is to tell his mother his life story... by golly his mother's going to hear that story if I have to bring her back from the dead in the middle of it.

"Fang, if I have anything to do with it, we'll sit there all day telling her your story." I felt his cheek smile against mine.

"Our story." I nodded against his shoulder.

"Yes, our story." I parted only enough to look him in the eyes, "And if you don't mind, I think I'd like her blessing too." He didn't even smile at me. He simply nodded and kissed me. It was such an amazing kiss. It wasn't really passionate or sweet or like any other kiss we'd ever had. It was just... emotional. It told everything that our words and actions couldn't. I felt him breathe in deep through his nose before parting. He leaned his forehead against mine and we smiled.

"Hey," Fang's sister screamed from the top floor, "We didn't put you in there to make out." We looked up at her and both laughed. Yes, even Fang. He stood up and picked me up bridal style from the couch, surprising me.

"Well, I think it's time to go get that blessing," he said.

When we pulled into the hospital parking lot, Fang looked dead inside. He looked like he was dead, but he could still feel everything. Still feel the emotional pain. I wanted to take all of it off of his shoulders, but I knew I couldn't. I knew nothing could. Nothing except him stepping in that room and meeting his mother.

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it to get his attention. When he looked over to me, I just nodded and looked pointedly at the car door. We both knew he just had to get it over with. He opened the door, and once he was out of the car, he was practically sprinting into the hospital. My hand was in his the whole time. Though I didn't know how I kept up. We'd picked up Banter, who'd been babysat by my mother, I'd discovered, and she was now in my arms. She was bouncing, no doubt uncomfortably, as we bounced along the path. Fang was dragging me beside him. He was anxious.

"Room 304!" his sister screamed from the car. She knew that he didn't need everyone on him, so she just decided to catch up with him at her own pace. The rest of the flock was at my mother's house. We decided that they didn't need to be here. Especially since if Nudge said two words to Fang, she'd probably be decapitated. Not by him, but by me.

Once into the hospital, Fang pressed the button on the elevator. After about three seconds of waiting. He let go of my hand and looked me dead in the eyes. "You and Banter take the elevator and catch up. I really can't stand around, so I'll take the stairs. I'll see you guys in a minute." He kissed me on the forehead and did the same to Banter. He opened a door that lead to the stairs and started bolting up them. After 30 seconds, an vacant (thank God) elevator greeted me. I stepped in with Banter in my arms, and we slowly crept up to floor three. Once on the third floor, I immediately spotted the fourth room on the floor.

I stepped off the elevator, but couldn't quite will myself to move after that. I was terrified of seeing Fang's mother for some reason. Terrified for him. Even terrified, a bit, for Banter. This was her grandmother, and she'd never met her. In a few seconds, I saw Fang burst out of the stair doorway, and stop right in front of the door. I'd expected him to rush in quickly, paying no mind to the fact she didn't know him. But, about an inch in front of the door, he just stopped. I waited for him to enter the door, but he didn't. Finally, he turned around, and just leaned on the door. I walked up to him; this is the first time he'd noticed my presence.

"I can't do this," he said. I forced his chin up with my hand, a bit less subtle than I had been in previous accounts. He looked me dead in the eyes.

"Fang Lott, you've been waiting your whole life for this moment. _The whole Flock_ has been waiting for a moment _just like this one_. Only I've had the pleasure, besides Iggy. And Iggy didn't get to see his parents. You are _not _going to have a chance at this moment and blow it. Now if you don't get in that room and meet the woman who gave birth to you, so help me God, I will kick your ass so hard you're going to wish you _could_ cry to your mommy." For a moment his face held still. But soon after, his trademarked half-smirk erupted onto his face.

"And I'll help her!" Banter added soon after. I just remembered Banter was in my arms. Fang and I looked at each other and smiled.

"Oh, well then I'm going in there," he said, faking panic. "Not even Max's skills can match the Banter Slamster," he said, pretending to throw punches at her. She gave him a pretty good whack to the side of the head and giggled childishly. She was just so danged cute.

"I still can't do this alone," I repositioned Banter into one of my arms and grabbed Fang's hand.

"You're not alone," I encouraged. "You have your family with you."

"Yeah!" I heard. Fang and I looked at each other, then to the source of the noise. To my left was none other than the Flock. Gazzy, who'd been the initial commenter, nodded at Fang as he caught eye of them.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked. Iggy smiled and spoke up.

"We're here to see our mom," he said, "After all, we are family. Su mama, is mi mama. Fang grinned, and looked at each one of the Flock, taking a long look at me, and then to Banter. He licked his lips and smiled.

"Well," he said, "What are we waiting for?" The Flock slapped high fives as he looked at me.

"By the way, when did you learn my last name?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I gotta know what my future last name's gonna be, don't I?" He looked at me with a joking lack of credit, then smiled. He looked at the doorway for a few seconds and then finally, he opened the door. He then closed it quickly, and looked back. I was about to scold him, before he looked at me and busted out laughing. I'd never seen Fang laugh so hard in my life.

"We're on the wrong floor."

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	21. Chapter 21

_**SUPER important chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it! :D **_

Finally, after dropping one floor, we'd found the actual room that Fang's mother was located in. He stood outside the door for a second, motionless, and finally, he looked at me. He swung the door open slowly. I spied a slight movement, as if someone was turning their head to the doorway. _Dear Lord, please tell me we're in the right room. I'd hate to walk into someone else's room with all of this tension_. I looked at the woman lying on the hospital bed and my mouth went agape.

This is the right room.

The woman had a skin tone completely different from Fang's. Hers was way too pale to be like his own. Her hair was blond, with the occasional highlight of brown in it. Fang's, in case you forgot, was black. Her jawline was wrong, her anatomy was wrong; nothing about her fit Fang. Except for one thing.

Her eyes.

Pitch black, with the tiniest little glint in the back of them, if you looked hard enough. And the way they coldly calculated mine and Fang's presence, just like Fang might, only reminded me more of him. This had to be her. No other person on Earth, besides Fang and Banter, had eyes like that. This was his mother. I just knew it. However, Fang still had his doubts.

"Max, I don't think this is..."

"This is her," I said with a wide grin on my face. He looked at me quizzically, "Just trust me. This is her." He raised an eyebrow, but he looked back at the woman. He didn't smile; his face was in his casual disinterested form. Good to know that the old Fang is in there somewhere. I knew that he wanted to be absolutely sure before he got his hopes up. But I was absolutely sure. "You want me to prove it to you?" He nodded slowly. He was scared. I could tell.

"Um, I'm sorry to disturb you, Ms. Lott," that was what was going to decide it, "We're doing a survey. How many children have you given birth to?" She looked at me with her eyes and grimaced.

"None," she said, "None ya' business." I looked at him and smiled. He half-smirked. I walked back over to him.

"That's enough for me," I said. He shrugged.

"I guess it's worth a shot," he said. He looked at her, and spoke slowly and with more tension in his voice than I'd ever heard him, "Excuse me," he _never _said excuse me. "You have a daughter by the name of Samantha Lott. Correct?" I asked. She gave him a disinterested face. Just like Fang would.

"I have a daughter named Nunya Bertha S'wax," she said, "But you can call her Nunya Beeswax." He grinned on half of his face. I was worried about how he'd convinced him, but now he was the one who had the confidence. He pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket. As soon as the woman spotted it, she snatched it out of his hand. She analyzed it, and I looked into her eyes and saw sadness. Remorse.

"Where'd you get this?" she asked. He smiled.

"Just look at it, then look at me." He gave her a few seconds. She looked from the picture, to him, and as I watched her eyes, they lit up considerably. She seemed to be getting excited. But it was hard excitement. Like, she was scared it wasn't true. I smiled. _Just like Fang was a minute ago_. She was trying to hide it as best she could. Finally, she looked at him menacingly, and spoke with venom. She was just as good as Fang in that category. After all, it's hard to sound intimidating sitting in a hospital bed.

"By the good holy Lord in heaven above, if you are joking with me..." Fang held a hand up to stop her. She didn't seem very happy by that gesture. He slowly lifted up his pant leg to a little above his knee. He pointed at a specific discoloration there.

A birthmark. Somehow I'd never noticed it on him.

The woman looked at the picture one last time, then back to Fang. Tears started forming in her eyes. From that moment on, she questioned no more. She just looked up at him. After two minutes of pure silence and a bit of happy sobbing, she smiled wide and screamed, "Blake!" She held her arms out in a hugging gesture and Fang bent over to hug her.

Fang's mom was beautiful, actually. Even as weak as she was, she looked amazing. She was one of those pretty girls that I like. You know, she's pretty without the makeup, and she doesn't spend four hours putting on her face. Plus, if she goes out in a storm, her beauty doesn't fall off. I smiled so wide at this family reunion. It was 20 years in the making.

"Blake," she said; softer this time, but she drew it out over a few happy sobs. "Oh, Blake. Oh, thank you Jesus. Oh, thank you. Blake, please help me sit up." It seemed apparent that Fang's real name was Blake. Fang helped her swing her legs over the edge of the hospital bed. She was now upright, and could properly hug Fang. She hugged him like she never wanted to let go. It was so, amazingly sweet. Fang finally got a little distance between them.

"Mom," he said. I knew that he loved being able to say that to his actual mother. "I hope you don't mind, but I go by Fang now." She seemed a bit phased by the name at first, but it was followed quickly by a smile and nodding.

"Fang it is," she said. As if she's just saw me for the first time, she looked over to me with surprise. "Well, who is this?" But she didn't say it as if she was annoyed. Once you got past that shield, much like Fang, she was a really, really sweet person. _Exactly _like Fang, I'd say. For the first time in my life, I blushed just by the mentioning of my name. This was the only person that I'd seek approval from _ever_. I got Fang's approval, so I didn't need to seek it. But I might need to work for his mother's.

"This is Max," Fang said. There was something else I'd just noticed. Around Fang's mother, he was immediately a chatterbox. It was beautiful. I'd never seen Fang talk to anyone outside the Flock. And right off the bat, he and his mother had bonded. "She's the love of my life." Well, he gave me a nice little head-start right there. She smiled.

"Well, hello there," she said. "Why, you're gorgeous." I blushed again. Once again, this is a really sweet lady. She looked at Banter and I could see her heart melt. To be honest with you, even my heart melted the first time I saw the kid. That millisecond before I got mad at Fang. But anyways, it's water under the bridge now.

"And what about this little lady?" she said. Banter, as if on cue, giggled girlishly.

"I'm Banter," she said. Once again, Fang's mother was a bit thrown off by the name, but soon accepted it. "That's my daddy," she said, pointing her tiny finger at Fang. It was so freaking cute I nearly turned into one of those frilly girls. Nearly. Fang's mother gave in and gave a long, "Aw." I walked over to her and let her hold Banter. As soon as Banter touched her arms, she looked like her life was complete.

"Well, darling, guess who I am?" Banter thought for a moment and then shrugged. I smiled. Fang shrugged that same way. Fang's mother laughed almost reminiscently, "I'm your grandmommy." Her mouth went agape. For people like us, that kind of stuff is life changing. And by people like us, I mean genetic freaks. That's becoming a mute point, at least to me.

"Grandmommy?" she said, "I've never had one of those before." Fang's mother looked absolutely horrified. She looked at Fang. He shrugged.

"It's a hard life," he said. I could tell she nearly started crying. She put her hand over her mouth and looked down at the ground.

"I'm so, so sorry," she said. "How could you ever forgive me for putting you into that? How can I ever forgive _myself _for putting you into a life like that?" He looked her dead in the eye and shrugged incredulously.

"I'm here, right?" he said. She nodded.

"By some great miracle," she replied.

"I met the five strongest and most amazing people because of you," he said. "That that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." She looked at him with an amazed, proud glance. She smiled wide.

"You've been out there on your own for twenty years," she said. "How did you become such an intelligent, morally strict, strong young man?" I smiled and looked at him. Coincidentally, he looked back at me.

"She helped," he said. I blushed again. What is with me doing that? Suddenly, Fang's face was that of a harsh realization. He looked at his mother, and looked scared. She caught it too. Call it mother's intuition, I suppose.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" she said. He looked at her seriously, all of the happiness from before alleviating itself.

"Before we go any further, you have to know something," he said. He looked at me, and it immediately clicked. The wings. The make or break of the deal. He backed up to the wall and measured how far he could extend them. Obviously not all the way out. His wing span was pretty massive. Slowly and hesitantly, he opened his wings until they touched each wall. Her mother sat in silence for a few moments. She was seemingly stunned. Soon after, she smiled and stood up on her own. She nearly tackled Fang in a hug.

"Now don't think that..." Fang started. I knew why he was scared. When Iggy had shown his parents the wings, they'd tried to turn him into a circus act. What would Fang's mother say about it? Speaking of Fang's mother, she'd cut him off in the middle of his statement.

"My son is one of a kind," she said. He looked a bit confused for a moment. He wrapped his arms around his mother, who was multiple inches shorter than he.

"You're not going to try to make money off me, are you?" he asked. Wow. I'd never seen Fang just straight out ask a question like that. He'd just assume the worst until proven otherwise. She looked at him shocked.

"Of course not," she said, "I'm just happy my prayers worked. I'd always prayed that, in case you'd never see me again, at least make him one of a kind. Make him notable. And you are!" I smiled and winked at Fang from behind her back.

"More than you know."

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	22. Chapter 22

_**This chapter, is very, enormously, insurmountably, extremely, MASSIVELY important. And I think you guys are going to absolutely LOVE it. So, you guys get to reading, and make sure to review :D**_

"Hey," I heard as the door swung open, revealing the whole Flock. "We'd like to meet our mom too." Fang's mother, still clinging to Fang tightly, was too emotional to mind their entering. Though she did notice what they said.

"What do you mean?" she asked. But she wasn't nearly as stern as when Fang and I had walked in. She was way too happy right now. Banter was sitting on the hospital bed, and requested to be picked up by me. I went over and lifted her off the bed as Fang's mother looked at Iggy, who'd spoken before.

"Mom," Fang said, "This is my family." She looked around at all of them. We were a rather ragtag group of individuals, from the outside. We all looked just a little bit like hooligans. Well, for the vast majority of our lives, we kind of were hooligans. What with the stealing cars, stealing food, running from the cops, not going to school. Yeah, we were pretty much the definition of hooligans. However, Fang's mother accepted them immediately. She was just so happy to have her son back, and I guess she was happy that he had some people to call his family.

"Well, I think I'd like to be introduced to my new sons and daughters," she said happily. I smiled. She was so sweet.

I think we all know who stepped up to the plate first for introducing themselves.

"Oh, my name's Nudge and I like to think that I'm the most fashionable of the group. Of course, there's Max's sister Ella, who's pretty much just as bad as me when it comes to fashion. Or I guess just as good as me. And then there's Max, because she doesn't need to worry about fashion because she's so gorgeous as it is. And then there's Angel and she's actually starting to get into it. I'm 17, but I've known all of these guys my whole life. Except for Ella; we didn't meet her until I was 11, and..." And, as usual, Gazzy put his hand over Nudge's mouth to stop her bantering.

"She's also the most talkative," he said. Fang's mother smiled.

"You seem like a wonderful young lady," she said. Nudge smiled and blushed a little. She is wonderful. Nudge came over and Fang's mother presented her with a hug.

"Well, seeing as I was mentioned the most in that paragraph," Ella said, "I think that I'll go next. I'm Ella, Max's sister. I'm 18, and I'm the only person here who hasn't known all of these guys my whole life." Iggy squeezed Ella against him. Fang's mother grinned.

"Well, come on over here," she said, "I'm waiting for my hug." It would seem Fang's mother was a serious hugger. Ella laughed a little and went to hug the woman. I now noticed that Fang's mother was hugging everyone as if they really were her children. I think she could sene how close they were to Fang. How they really were his family. It was a nice scene.

"Hi, I'm Angel. I'm the youngest at 12." She went over to retrieve her hug and returned to the huddle. There was a long silence and so Ella nudged Iggy in the ribs. Hard. He coughed a little and then introduced himself.

"I'm Iggy. I'm the same age as Max and Fang: 20. And I'm actually blind," he said. Fang's mother seemed worried, until she saw how Iggy weaved through the huddle easily and wrapped his arms around her. She seemed surprised at his navigation skill and hugged him back. He easily found his way back to Ella and wrapped his arm around her. "I'm also Ella's boyfriend." Ella blushed and smiled.

"I'm Gazzy," Gazzy said immediately, probably trying to cut off all the lovey dovey stuff. One day he'll get a girlfriend, and we can all mess with him. "I'm Angel's brother, and I'm 14." He got his hug and went back to the group. And so that was everyone. Fang's mother smiled wider than I've ever seen anyone smile.

"Your friends seem like wonderful people," she told Fang. He shrugged.

"Depends how early it is," he said. She chuckled and hugged him again. She was so happy to have her son back. And, although he didn't show it in front of the Flock, I could see he was so, so, so glad to see his mother. And you know what? I was too. I'm glad to see the woman who made the love of my life.

"Hey, you guys," I said calmly. "I know you're really excited to see Fang's mom, but how about you guys go on home. I think Fang wants to talk to his mom in private for a while." They nodded without arguing, surprisingly enough. Iggy knew the feel of seeing a parent after so long. You just want some time with them alone for a while. Just as I was about to leave, he grabbed my shoulder.

"You stay," he said, "After all, you have something to ask of her too." I remembered that I wanted her blessing. And I still do. I smiled and nodded. Fang sat his mother back on her bed and settled beside her. There wasn't quite enough room for me to sit beside him, so I stood. Fang's mother looked at me and rolled her eyes. Just like Fang might. I smiled at the thought.

"Just sit on his lap," she said. I raised my eyebrows, a bit shocked. "I'm not one of those overprotective mothers. Besides, I have no room to judge him after not seeing him for so long." I took her offer and sat on Fang's lap, with Banter in mine. We looked like a family visiting grandma. I leaned my head against Fang's cheek. It'd been a very interesting day. He reached around me and stroked Banter's hair. She was beautiful. Genius and extremely complicated, but beautiful.

"What have you been up to all of these years?" Fang's mother asked. He looked down at me and smiled. I smiled back up at him.

"Where do I start?" And then Fang started telling her about his days at the School. And I'm not sure if he meant to, or he just couldn't stop talking, but he sat for hours on end, telling her everything about our history. He told how Jeb broke us out, he told her about our house on the edge of the canyon. He told her about Angel getting kidnapped, us trying to rescue her. How we get split up, my gunshot wound, how I met my mother for the first time. Getting recaptured by the school, how I'm supposed to save the world. He told her absolutely everything. Right down to him leaving. I'd almost fell asleep on his shoulder, but a sudden movement from him woke me. He looked down at me.

"You might want to listen to this part," he said. I shook my head. The last part I'd really listened to was when he was writing the note to me when he left. I didn't know what he'd really want to tell me. "I'd gotten captured by Itex. They ran some tests on me, just as they did at the School years before. However, they weren't nearly as inhumane as before. They struck a deal with me for my release. This is where things get interesting." I started listening at that point. Fang never emphasized things would get interesting. He simply got straight to the point.

"They wanted," he paused, "Some of my seed for an experiment they were doing. They wanted to see how the reproductive organs in avians functioned." My mouth widened, "And so you see, Max, I never had sex with anyone." Thank _God _Banter was asleep by now. I was so shocked. And the first thing I could feel was guilt. I bury my head in his chest.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I almost abandoned you over that, and it wasn't even your fault." He lifted my chin and winked at me with a small grin.

"I'm not done yet," he said. "Now, under most circumstances, I wouldn't have agreed to this. Mostly because it's really just weird. But, they promised me something. And, it was an offer I really couldn't refuse. For one, because they were going to release me. Second, and most importantly, I missed Max." I scrunched my brow, and suddenly caught wind of what he meant. His mother was still very confused, but the happy glint in his eye was crystal clear.

"But," I said, "How?" He smiled.

"I was wondering that myself," he said. "See, you were in the School until you were ten. At that age, seeing as we grow faster, you had already hit puberty. So, without your knowing, they'd taken one of your ovaries, and they just kind of preserved it for all of these years," he said. "When they said that the other half of the genes would be coming from you, I couldn't help but take the offer." Have you ever been so freaking happy that for some reason you express it as if you're almost disinterested? Yeah, that's how I was right then. And so, my first response was...

"That's kinda gross." He smiled. I looked down at Banter. Her nose. Her hair. Her skin tone. Her attitude, on occasion. I thought back to the day she showed up at the house after Fang had been arrested. The familiar forced grin. _That was my grin. _That's why I knew it so well. It was then that I actually expressed how happy I was. "So, Banter's... mine?" He nodded slowly. I couldn't smile wide enough to express how happy I was. I couldn't cry hard enough to express how happy I was. I couldn't hug Fang hard enough if I broke his ribs to express how happy I was. So I did all three. It still didn't quite express how happy I was.

"I love you, Max," he said. I leaned my forehead against his, silent tears streaming down my cheeks. I kissed him quickly and parted.

"I love you, Fang." He smiled. I could see Fang's mother out of the corner of my eyes, not at all bothered by our display. She was actually crying with joy herself. Fang was the only one not shedding some tears. But he was smiling wider than I'd ever seen. Oh, there's something I forgot. I punched him as hard as I could. He looked at me with fake pain.

"Ow," he said, smiling still.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked him. But I couldn't really be mad. I was just happy. Fang and I had a child. We were parents. There was nothing that could change that. Fang never got involved with another woman. He'd never forgotten about me. My only problem was, _why'd he let me believe that he did for so long?_

"Max, you were mad at me as it was," he said, "I had to really regain your trust before I told you. You would've never believed me if I would've told you that night, when you figured out." I couldn't even pretend like he wasn't right. I kissed him again. I was so, so, so happy. I don't think I'd ever been this happy in my life. Scratch that; I _know _I've never been this happy in my life.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm so sorry. I always assume the worst, and I'm so stubborn, and I'm so stupid." His glare shut me up.

"Max, let's be honest. If this was the other way around, I would've done the same thing." I didn't want to argue about it. I just wanted to pause in this moment. I wanted to live this moment for the rest of my life. A real, biological family surrounding me. It could only be better if the Flock was here. But Fang and I had a real family. Suddenly, I felt two arms around me, other than Fang's.

"I'm glad you're my granddaughter's mother," she said. I hugged her back, but there was too many people. I ended up waking Banter. She looked at all of us with a wondering expression.

"Why's everybody crying?" she asked innocently. I hugged her tight against me.

"Because I'm your mommy," I told her, kissing her on the forehead. She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Did you not want to be?" I laughed and pulled her tight against me. Her small arms wrapped around my neck.

"Yes," I said, "I always wanted to be."

_**What you've all been waiting for! ^-^ Now, since I gave you that, REVIEW PLEASE! :DD**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Alright guys, another FAX filled chapter! Trust me, if you like FAX, you'll love this chapter. And don't forget to review :D**_

Well, after that extremely sentimental moment, we had to get back to business. After all, we came here for a reason. I'd managed to regain some composure, although still so ecstatic about having a baby girl. _Fang's _baby girl. I shook my head. _Later you can celebrate. Now, you have to get information. _ I looked at Fang's mother.

"I'd heard that you were in a grieving circle way back after you lost Fang," I said, cutting right to the heart of the matter. She nodded slowly. It seemed like a terrible memory, everything after her giving Fang away. She loves him so much. I can see it every time she looks at him. She loves him more than anything.

"Yes," she said, "Four other families who'd made the same mistake I did." I was about to ask her more about the families, but before I could, she was already into speech. "I didn't want to give you up, Fang. I really didn't. But, your father... I didn't know him very well. After he'd gotten me pregnant, I told everyone that he ran away. But he didn't. He wouldn't, though I begged. He said that he wouldn't leave until you were born, and I gave you away. And if I didn't give you away," she paused as tears started to stream down her face. Fang's gaze upon his mother was already angry. Not at her, but at his father.

"What would he do?" he asked coldly. When he was angry, he never tried to comfort people. Which is why he didn't even hesitate before asking, despite the fact we all knew it would be unpleasant. She looked at him.

"He would've killed us both," she said. Fang's expression was flooded with anger. I tapped his arm. He didn't look at me. He never did when he reached a certain point of anger. I suppose he feared he'd take it out on me by accident. I stroked his cheek and hinted his face toward mine. He looked down at me, and his eyes actually scared me. I'd never seen such fury, even in Fang.

"Calm down, Fang," I said, "Let's get some information on the Flock's parents, then we can deal with that later." Fang's mother heard me apparently, because she immediately pieced the puzzle together and replied.

"He has possession of the addresses of the other families," she said. She was no longer crying. It seemed like she was strictly business now. "After I'd gotten kicked out he took my address book so I didn't give you to one of my friends and get you back later. He never gave it back." I didn't want to look at Fang. I was scared he was about to lose it. I tried to let him handle his anger while I got some information.

"Do you know where he lives?" I asked her. She nodded slowly.

"He lives in apartment 28 B downtown," she said, "He hasn't moved from that rocking chair on the balcony in 6 years." Fang stood up and grabbed my hand. Banter seemed startled at him. I picked her up and settled her in one of my arms. I don't know if she's ever seen Fang angry... Well, it's not something fit for children. It's hardly something fit for adults.

"Let's go," he said. I pulled him back and gave him a serious glance.

"Fang," I said. He didn't give even a glare as a reply. "Fang!" I yanked his arm and he turned around. His eyes didn't even show anger any more. They were just shut down from anyone's reading. I couldn't tell any of his emotions. Of course, by his actions I could tell he was furious, but his eyes would never hint me.

I kissed him lightly. It was kind of a one-sided gesture. He was almost scarily angry. I looked at his eyes again and gasped. They weren't black. They were _blue_. I know they say some eyes change color with emotion, but I never expected to see a blue-eyed Fang. Now I was a bit scared.

But that's not gonna stop me from keeping my daughter's father from going off on a rampage. I put my hand to his face and rubbed circles in his cheek. "You need to calm down, babe." I repeated that over and over, Fang losing about .1 percent of his anger each time. In other words, this might take a long while. He leaned his forehead against mine. That showed me he was at least calm enough to show some affection.

"I know you're angry. You have every right to be," I said, "But look at Banter." He eyed her. She was cowering into my shoulder, terrified of her own father. He closed his eyes at the sight of his anger's effect. When he opened them back up, they were back to their original hue. I sighed in relief. That didn't mean he wasn't angry, but it did mean he wouldn't go on a killing rampage.

"Come here, Banter," he said. She looked at him, then hesitantly climbed into her father's arms. He hugged her tight against him, whispering some things into her ear. I couldn't make all of them out, but it almost seemed like he was whispering a lullaby to her. He kissed her on the side of the head and put her back into my arms. She was sound asleep. He looked at me, still shaken at seeing how scared he'd made Banter.

"There's something else you might want to know," Fang's mother said. He turned his gaze to her. "Your father told me about the program that I'd given you to. I would've never found it otherwise. He was, like, a spokesperson, almost, to the program. He directed a lot of people into the it." Fang looked back to me. He turned away and left the hospital room, already opening the door to the stairs. After setting Banter down on the hospital bed, I followed closely behind him. I slammed all my weight into the door and shut it. His eyes were now one of the brightest blues I'd ever seen.

"Max, move," he said. I looked at him. This was probably the only time I'd ever been afraid of just one person. Normally, I'd be angry and assertive about calming him down and we'd get in an argument. But I'd grown out of that. I put both of my hands to his face and rubbed my thumbs in circles, pulling his head down to mine. I used my other fingers to stroke his hair a little.

"Look at me," I said. His gaze was focused on the door. "Look at me, Fang. You know, the girl you supposedly love?"

"I do love you," he answered quickly, locking his gaze on me.

"Then calm down. I can't have you in jail again. You've already been charged once with assault, we don't need you being a repeat offender."

"Max, you don't know what it's like to have a father like that. Your father may have been a douche, but he didn't threaten to kill your mother." I couldn't get angry and argue right now. That'd only make him more angry. For his sake, I had to keep calm.

"But he did help with the torture in our lives, so I know what it's like to feel like it's my fault." He didn't look any less peeved. I closed my eyes, looking for the words to calm him. "Look, he may have put the rest of the Flock into this life, but if they're like me, they wouldn't want it any other way. Damn it, if it wasn't for us having this life, none of us would've met. Now calm down. I can't have you going to jail." His eyes were locked on mine.

"If it means giving this asshole the beating he deserves, then why shouldn't I?" I closed my eyes.

"Because if you're in jail you can't be with us. I just got you back and I don't need to lose you again for Lord knows how long, okay? They don't put you in jail for a few months, they put you in for _years_. We can't go years without you, Fang. Not again. Banter needs her father, the Flock needs their brother, and damn it, I need my Fang." A single tear fell down my face as I looked at Fang. His eyes were now black again. I looked down at the ground. I _hate _crying...

"Max," he said. I looked up at him for a second. Well, what I planned to be a second. His gaze entranced me. I decided instead to just close my eyes. Our foreheads were leaning against one another's, and Fang's lips were about an inch away from mine. He brought a hand to the side of my face and subtly hinted my head toward his. He kissed me on the forehead and started stroking my hair. I finally opened my eyes again and looked at him. When he saw my eyes, he sat on the floor.

I didn't know how he felt right now. Since he'd come back, he'd usually been pretty open, and I could read him easier, but right now I wasn't sure. It was like way back when we lived at the house on the cliff. He could be angry, and no one would even know. Until the person who made him mad talked to him, and he went off. It was usually me. I sat down beside him. I couldn't leave him like this all alone. I wanted him to know I was here for him. I grabbed his hand. He squeezed mine approvingly.

"What do we do now?" he asked suddenly. I looked at him. To him, I was the leader, and I needed to come up with something. It'd been a while since he'd thought like that.

"I think that's your call," I said. He looked at me. "After all, he's your father. This is your family. I'm just here to make sure you don't do anything too stupid." He smiled slightly. He kissed me lightly and we sat for a moment in silence. But it was a comfortable silence. We were just sitting hand in hand, and for a second, it was almost like we forgot about all our problems.

"It's our family," he said. I raised an eyebrow at him. "After all, you're going to be my wife soon, right?" My heart skipped multiple beats. I didn't know what he meant, actually. I just smiled at him like an idiot. He grinned at me and leaned close to my ear.

"This is where you say yes," he said. As if produced from thin air, a small black box was in my lap. He looked from my eyes to the gift, then back to my eyes. I gulped loudly, and looked down at it. And so what did I do, but open it?

It was a necklace.

I analyzed it further. It wasn't a shiny chain with a pompous pendant on the end, as some would expect a grown man to get his girlfriend. The chain was actually 550 Cord, military standard, from what I could tell. And there wasn't actually a pendant, per say. Just two bloody feathers, one black and one a brownish hue. It obviously wasn't something from a jewelery shop. And yet, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever been given. I looked up at Fang.

"What is this?" I asked him.

"A gift," he said, "Straight from the Fang collection." I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, Fang. Did you make this?" He looked at me.

"Yeah. And those two feathers," he said, "They're ours. Yours is from that night that Angel split up the Flock, mine is from the day that you had to revive me." I looked back at it.

"Why such specific dates?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I guess," he started, "I guess it just kind of shows what we are without each other. I mean, when Angel broke us up, you were a wreck. I helped you keep sane in the time we weren't a whole Flock. And that day where I'd almost died... Well, you're the only reason I'm alive today. I guess it just kind of shows that whenever we're at our lowest, the other can pick up the slack." Fang was very interesting. He could say the most romantic thing in the world, and yet his tone would imply he just said nothing. It was so sweet.

"So?" he asked. I looked at him for another moment.

"I love it," I said. He shook his head.

"I suppose I need to be a bit more direct about it," he said. Fang managed to wedge one of his arms between me and the wall behind me, and essentially wrapped both of his arms around me. He stood up, bringing me with him, and took the necklace from my hand. He started to tie it around my neck, and put his mouth by my ear. "To be a bit more direct about it," he said slowly, still tying the necklace around my neck. Ironically, I was getting choked up by him doing this. "Maximum Ride, will you marry me?"

This was the second time within the hour that I was so happy, that I didn't really know how to react. And so, for a second, I just stood there, reminiscing on the moment. Fang tying this around my neck. I decided I'd let him put it on first, then I'd deal with the task of answering. He seemed to take his time with the thing. Finally, when he was done, he turned me around. I smiled at him.

"I guess," I said, rolling my eyes playfully. "I mean, I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life anyways, right?" He actually laughed, and his smile was wider than any I'd ever seen. He nodded.

"Yeah," he said. I kissed him emotionally. It was just amazing. First my boyfriend, then the father of my child, and now my fiance. Fang's become so much more to me over the past few days. Well, pretty much today, actually. After our kiss faded, I put my head into his chest.

Boy, has it been an interesting day.

_**Ker D'AWWWWW. I hope you guys liked the whole nonchalant answer from Max. I figured that'd be the most Max-esque thing to do (: Anyways, REVIEW :D**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Alright guys, here's a new chapter up! It's a bit short in comparison to other chapter, and it's kind of inconsequential, but it's a nice fun little Flock commentary chapter. Those are always fun. I'll get to working on this story some more. This is my primary story right now, because I really feel impressed with it. So, be watching for this one! I think it'll be cool! (: REVIEW :D**_

"Guys, we're home!" I yelled, entering my mother's house. It seemed like forever since I'd slept in my own bed, and I was eager to take advantage of that tonight. "Get in here and ready. There's much news to be told." The Flock slowly filed into the living room, drowsy, yet alert. They seemed happy to take a few minutes out of their day to hear how Fang's introduction to his mother was. Although most of the news wasn't exactly relevant to that. Well, the news I cared most about, to be completely honest. Sue me.

"What's up?" Nudge asked. I grinned. I was tired, but I was also really happy to tell everyone the news. About their parents, about Banter, about Fang's proposal, all of it. "And what's that on your neck?" She gestured to my feathery necklace. I looked to Fang, who had looped his arm behind me on the couch.

"Should we start with that?" I asked. He shrugged, scooting low enough to put his head on my shoulder and closing his eyes. But I knew him. He would still listen; he was just closing his eyes and calming himself. After the whole scare of him going on a killing spree, I was glad. I kissed him on the top of the head, completely disregarding the glares the Flock gave me. Happy and grossed out alike.

"Well, Fang proposed to me at the hospital," I said nonchalantly. Nudge and Ella shot a glance at each other. I'll spare you the rest of the details on that. What was really interesting was the fact that Iggy and Gazzy looked at each other and slapped high fives, and Angel was squealing with the other girls. Fang's sister, who'd apparently come home with the Flock, smiled wide and shot me a thumbs up.

"I approve," she said just loud enough for me to hear over the chatter going on in the room. I grinned and nodded.

"Where's your ring?" Nudge asked. I felt Fang's cheek raise slightly on my shoulder. I knew he was listening.

"No ring," I said, "This necklace. It has one of mine and one of his feathers on it. I love it more than I would have loved a ring." Nudge smiled, but raised a curious eyebrow.

"That's sweet," she said, "But why a necklace?" I looked at Fang. I never did ask that. I twitched my shoulder and startled Fang a bit. He perked up and looked at me, raising an eyebrow as if he was asleep. He didn't like being in on the emotional hustle, which is why he pretended he was asleep. But I knew better.

"Why did you give me a necklace instead of a ring?" I asked. "I mean, I love it. I'm just curious." He grinned slightly.

"It's just for the engagement thing. There'll be a real ring for the wedding," he said. "But, we haven't exactly had a normal life. I figured we'd have something just as unique to represent the rest of our lives, right?" He put his head back on my shoulder trying to sleep, immediately shaking off that he might've said the second most romantic thing I'd ever heard (trailing only what he'd said earlier when giving me the necklace). Nudge put her hand over her mouth and squealed. I winked at her.

"That's why I said yes," I mouthed. She gave me a thumbs up.

"Fang, dude," Iggy said. He opened one eye, still resting on my shoulder. He's so cute when he's tired. "Who's gonna be the best man?" Gazzy immediately shot a menacing glance at Iggy. It's too bad it did no good; it really was pretty intimidating.

"Depends how many more times you guys wake me up," he said, closing his eyes once again. I reached my hand up and rubbed his face. He was great.

"How long till you guys have kids?" my mother, whom I'd completely disregarded until this moment, asked. Wow. She gets the news and the first thing she asks is about grandchildren. Isn't she the one that would be discouraging such action as long as possible? Well, I'm 20 now, so I suppose she knows it'll be coming soon anyways. I grinned.

"That brings me to my next point," I said. The Flock shot to attention. I'm not really sure why they stopped their chatter so quickly, perhaps because they were excited to hear any details about the wedding deal. However, this wasn't about the wedding. "Banter has turned out to be mine all along." Now, given the fact that the whole Flock isn't blind, and they've never been away from me for more than nine months, they all were a bit confused about that little tidbit. And so, I explained the deal to them. I won't go verbatim on that because they asked some pretty weird questions. But that's to be expected from the Flock.

"Sweet!" Gazzy said, "I'm an uncle!" I raised an eyebrow.

"Something tells me you'll be that weird uncle who farts and finds it funny," I said. He looked at me seriously.

"Well, I could tell you that. But I'm much more than that," he said, "I'll also teach her to make bombs." Iggy perked at attention at that.

"Yes!" he said, slapping five with Gaz. I sighed and leaned my head beside Fang's ear.

"Our daughter's going to have your volatile anger, my sarcastic attitude, both of our stubbornness, and now Gazzy and Iggy's bomb making expertise," I said, "She's going to be an evil genius." He grinned against my shoulder.

"She could rival Itex," he whispered back. I laughed a little. We'd put Banter to bed as soon as we'd gotten home, before we'd even told anyone else we were home. We figured they'd kinda be all over us, and Banter was already asleep at the time. Suddenly, another thought arose in my head.

"The only girls in the Flock who are really old enough to babysit her are Ella and Nudge," I said, "Which means she'll end up as much of a girlie girl as them." Fang grinned.

"If she's your daughter, she could never be a girlie girl." I smiled.

"Well put," I said. Fang yawned against my shoulder and nuzzled deeper into it. I was getting pretty tired myself. I looked around at the Flock. They were all so happy, filled with thoughts of wedding and their shared niece. Should I really break the news about their parents? It might break our little happy moment up. Would I really want to get their hopes up? I looked around. Everyone was tired. I think it's about time for bed. We can skip over parents for tonight.

**_REVIEW! :D_**


	25. AU

_**Hey guys. So, I really hate to do this, but I'm totally going to product place in the middle of this story XD I feel like such a hypocrite, but I feel like this kind of applies to you guys. So, you guys liked Fang's blog, right? Well, I know I did. I was so bummed out when I saw that it stopped posting and changed it to maxdanwiz. Well, I decided since I hate the fact it's gone now, then I should do something about it.**_

_**So you see where this is going…**_

_**Well, I'm starting a blog I guess kind of like Fang's blog. I'm gonna do my best to portray Fang's attitude in all posts and stuff. I hope you guys don't think this is stupid. I just know that there are other people like me who would like the adventure to continue, even in such a small way. So, check it out, you guys. You should definitely inbox me some questions so that I can do a whole Fang Q&A thing. I know everyone loved that in the book.**_

_**So, don't hate me, just check it out. I just started it, so it's going to be kinda empty for a while. But once we get a lot of followers on it, it might be consistently updated. Here's the address:**_

_**intermittentintasia . blogspot . com (remove spaces of course)**_

_**By the way, just as a copyright thing, I don't own Maximum Ride or pretty much anything in any way, shape, or form.**_


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